“The tactics of leadership are easy. The art of leadership is hard.”
Overview
The book “Tribes” by Seth Godin, is a 151 page call to action for all people in the world to step up and become leaders. The book places an emphasis on how technology has enabled people of all ages, gender, ethnicity, status, belief, etc… to become leaders of influential groups, both large and small. These groups, or “tribes”, have the ability to change the way we do business and perhaps the world. Godin has identified technology, something as simple as a blog, as the vehicle for a new “tribe” leadership and the only fuel needed to get this tribe moving is a shared interest or passion.
The book, in my opinion, is in its essence a motivational read for all people interested the positive power of leadership and what it can accomplish.
However, the book in its written form comes across as a series of unconnected thoughts, ideas and stories. The “tribal” success stories or examples Godin refers to throughout tend to have very little detail and leave us doubting their true impact or validity. These stories that usually make up the bulk of leadership books and show us how to apply the philosophies or ideas being presented are sorely missed here. Further, the books main message of “anyone can lead a tribe” started to become repetitive and wear thin over the relatively slim book. One final criticism is that the book fit in very nicely with Godin’s own personal business model, that of a business blogger who has a strong internet following. I tended to get a feeling of someone who was simply validating their own mode of communication and leadership.
Application of ideas
While I did find many faults with the books presentation and content, I also found several secondary messages within that personally resonated with me, both in my personal experiences and in my beliefs.
The first idea I found important in this book is the aspect of empowering yourself to be a leader and not waiting to be given leadership responsibility. In my opinion this is the most important lesson that someone who aspires to be a leader, especially in the business environment, can possibly learn. By taking initiative and putting yourself into unofficial leadership positions, other leaders can get a first hand glimpse at your potential in leadership. This allows them to easily asses your ability as potential opportunities for advancement occur and proactively gets them to think about your leadership capabilities as well. Personally, my current manager worked hard to get me to buy into this several years ago, working with me to seek out leadership opportunities and to always present myself as a potential leader. I did eventually buy in and immediately saw results, getting promoted to a leadership role shortly thereafter.
The second thing I would stress from this book is the idea that being the first to pick an idea or plan and run with it, or “be there first”, is something that also can be applied to all prospective leaders. I strongly encourage all prospective leaders to actively seek out new ideas or problems and then find a way to bring this to the masses. This is an easy way to get noticed in an extremely positive light while also potentially delivering great change or impact to an organization. In fact, finding or acting on a new idea is usually the easiest way to create a leadership opportunity for oneself. A great example from my own experience is how I and a few of my peers took the initiative to install project management principles on our team. This occured at a time when project work was increasing steadily without any direction for a process to manage this work from my leadership. Our leaders soon heard about our progress and decided to form a cross-functional team to introduce project management to the department. We were then asked to participate in this team allowing us great exposure in our area. Three of the four of us initially involved in this effort have all moved on to leadership roles!
Third, many of Godin’s examples of “tribal” successes all involve one key trait, effective communication. I feel that communication might be one of the single greatest keys to being an effective leader. Godin’s emphasis on technology essentially boils down to the ability to quickly and easily communicate to people all over the globe. While he is correct with his technology emphasis, it is important to note that all these stories involved people who are excellent communicators. Think of Steve Jobs, commonly seen as a great product innovator, but whose true strength might be in communicating Apple’s products great features to the masses. Personally, I have seen many leaders quickly rise up the ranks at my own work with their ability to communicate complex projects and concepts to both leaders and subordinates.
Finally, the one thing I most remember from “Tribes” is the quote at the top of this page:
“The tactics of leadership are easy. The art of leadership is hard.”
This quote calls out that while there are many books out there that detail out action plans for effective leadership, great leadership is something that cannot simply be implemented, absorbed or learned. It is an art form that only through practice and constant development can truly be mastered.
