I just finished reading ‘Tribes’ by Seth Godin. It’s a great book that carries the thesis that we can all be leaders. All we need are followers. There are tribes everywhere in search of a leader. Godin defines a tribe as ‘a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to a cause’.
He describes two perspectives of life; one being the factory perspective and the other being the tribal perspective. Factories were great in their day but only require management while tribes require leadership. In my years in corporate America, I have seen lots of good managers, but a very few good leaders. The corporate (factory) mentality actually discourages leadership and encourages management.
In a short piece about change, Godin wisely states, “change almost never fails because it is too early. It almost always fails because it is too late.” He urges people to embrace change and to become change agents without fear of being criticized or put down because of their willingness to propose something that is out of the ordinary. He says that being criticized is way better than being ignored and being part of the factory!
I learned a lot of lessons from the book and reinforced some older lessons I have learned. I need to find someone to pass it along to , as he asks on the last page. Anyone want to read it?
