I am the very recent recipient of a copy of Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, the newest book by Seth Godin, a rather outspoken and important voice in marketing, specifically in social and “permission” marketing. Over the past couple of months, I have been participating in an online community based around the premise of this book: the Internet has torn down the physical and spatial walls that used to impede the ability of people to band together under a common cause and with common interests.
Now, no such problem exists. The freedom of information and the ability of people to find each other and communicate with each other is now at a level unsurpassed in human history—and it’s only becoming even more so with each passing day.
The thing about people who share opinions and who share interests is that they are in desperate need of leadership. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. They don’t (and almost never do) sit at the top of the org chart. They don’t protect the status quo, but are always moving; they are always shifting and changing to adapt to their “tribe” and to the changes that await them. Leaders don’t ask if obedience is any good, nor do they obey without question; leaders do what they need to do.
I lead a tribe in my life. It is small, not very influential, and I will gain little to no notoriety for it, but the tribe needs me and I need the tribe.
Over the next few weeks, I will be pulling relevant quotes from the book and posting them to the site, so you’ll be seeing a larger percentage than usual of Seth Godin’s name in the citation. If you like what you see, and you think Tribes looks like an interesting buy, then by all means, grab yourself a copy of the book. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Do you have a tribe?
Ryan Markel 