Catching the Tribe Vibe

Stuart Rivers, Sorted Magazine March/April 2012

Tribal behaviour is in our DNA. We were born to tribe. We were created to live in communities of like-minded people who hold to a shared set of values. This behaviour has existed since the beginning of time, but it is now developing as an intentional practice in successful organisations.

In business a new leadership culture is emerging – tribal leadership. This culture has been developing quietly for decades in organisations around the world even though it may have gone unnoticed by many.

Big ideas – even world-changing ideas – are being conceived because an individual or group decides to share their idea with others. They champion the idea and tribal behaviour emerges. Good ideas with tribal following are experiencing accelerated success, and you can learn a lot from some of these organisations.

World-Changing Tribes

From a Biblical perspective, tribes and tribal leadership are constant themes of the Old and New Testaments. Jesus himself exhibited tribal leadership characteristics. He first went out to build a tribe (of twelve disciples) to which he introduced a number of world-changing ideas. Then he sent out the twelve (Luke 9:1-6), and the seventy-two (Luke 10:1-20), and the results were remarkable. Then Jesus gives the Great Commission to all believers: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:20). 2000 years later there are millions of tribes (communities of believers) all over the world. Jesus had ideas that he shared with people, who shared with other people, who shared with yet more people. And Jesus changed the world.

According to Seth Godin (Tribes, 2008), tribes go back 50,000 years. Put simply, it’s a concept of connecting people and ideas, establishing what is important to the tribe and then taking action to make the idea a reality. Today tribes can be seen in churches and communities, businesses and workplaces, both physically and virtually. Tribal leaders are connecting people with technological, ecological, ideological, political and spiritual ideas, and they’re starting to change the world.

Modern day tribes are based on the ideas of Apple, TED, Huffington Post, Stop the Traffik, 24-7 Prayer and thousands of other organisations. All have developed a tribal following that is gathered around an idea or an ideology. They are likely to be championed by a charismatic tribal leader, who lives and breathes the idea that gave birth to the tribe. The leader is likely to have a core team of people, just as committed to the idea, who help build the tribe.

Apple has developed its products into an eco-system that drives multiple income streams and locks the customer into a long term (tribal) relationship. TED fosters the spread of great ideas, so that millions of people can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world. TED has tribe-like characteristics and a passionate following through its TED Conversations concept that gives people a platform for ideas, questions and debate. Huffington Post has developed an aggregated news service that has attracted significant investment – and a tribal following.

Stop the Traffik has built a tribe of tribes by championing the idea that people should not be bought and sold. 24-7 Prayer has built prayer communities (tribes) in over a hundred countries in just ten years, because a group of young people decided to see what would happen if they prayed non-stop for a month. They had the big idea that prayer transforms communities.

Tribal Contagion

Today’s tribal leaders are changing our world, our politics, our society, our culture, by aligning groups of people with an idea that is world-changing. Disillusioned or disconnected people are looking for someone to lead them. They are looking for someone to follow so that they can belong to a tribe that is aligned with their values. People want someone to say, ‘follow me,’ because they want to belong and they want to be part of the next big world-changing idea. Tribal leadership is exactly about connecting those people with that idea. And it’s happening now. Just sense the rhetoric in these questions.

How did a group of people camped outside Wall Street have global impact in a matter of weeks? From a single protest in New York, Occupy spread to 95 cities in 82 countries within two months. How did they do that?

Who would have thought that a month-long prayer meeting in Chichester could start a global movement with a tribal following of 2 million people in 113 countries? Why did that happen?

Who, least of all Google, would have predicted that Facebook and other social networks would drive Google’s search monopoly down from 95% to 55%?

The reality is that you only need a hundred true supporters who care enough about the idea to get you another thousand, who care enough to get you thousands more… and so on. This is tribal contagion! And if you can understand how and why they’re ‘tribing’ you’ve a good chance of building a sustainable business by adopting tribal leadership behaviour. Over the coming months I’ll be exploring tribal behaviour to discover how this culture can help organisations succeed, what it really means to be a tribal leader, and why tribal contagion is the new viral imperative.

For now, just think about how you can connect people with your idea and ponder how tribal culture might accelerate your business success.

Stuart Rivers
Former Officer
UKT

Executive Director of Enterprise

Stuart previously spent 15 years at Ericsson, developing international business, before being appointed as Global Contracts Director with Ericsson Enterprise in Sweden. He subsequently worked for the Salvation Army where, after two years as Community Programme Director in Worthing, he trained to become a Salvation Army Officer. Stuart is married to Carey, and they have six children and one grandchild.