| Friend,
Last week I touched briefly on leading your tribe. This week I'm going to talk more on that topic, and then I'm going to discuss how to get your tribe communicating outside of class.
Tribes follow leaders, plain and simple. Remember Seth Godin's definition of a tribe?
"Tribes are groups of people connected to each other, to an idea, and to a leader."
No leader, no tribe. Even when groups get together on the interwebs in social media groups, discussion groups, forums, etc., a de facto leader will almost always emerge within a particular group.
That's why it's important that you know how to lead, and lead well if you want your tribe to follow you for the long haul. Because if you aren't leading well, there's a good chance that another leader will appear to take over or fracture your tribe.
Let me explain what I mean. It can be helpful to think of tribes as being like a pack of wolves. There's always an alpha in charge - always.
Now, that word "alpha" is sort of a loaded word to many people, because to some it has connotations of strength and dominance, while to others it has connotations of bullying and all manner of assholery.
Well, let me tell you about canids and pack dynamics. The pack follows the alpha because they are the one member of the pack who is most likely to see them through tough times. The alpha protects the pack members, makes the best decisions for the pack, and also sees to it that the pack is well cared for at all times.
Granted, the alpha is probably the toughest wolf in the pack. But, he's also going to be stable and fair in all things. If you've ever owned a large dog breed or an aggressive dog breed, you know that they won't follow an unstable alpha for long. If the alpha is unpredictable or unsteady, they'll choose a new alpha, simple as that.
People are the same way. They don't follow out of fear - they follow out of admiration. If you're a d___ to people, you'll never have a stable pack, period. So, you have to be the type of leader who is stable, fair, honest, and trustworthy if you want to instill loyalty from your tribe.
Moreover, you have to take care of your tribe, and make decisions that benefit the tribe as a whole and not just you. And, you have to be confident. Good leaders don't question their right to lead; they just do.
Until next time,
Mike Massie MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
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P.S. - The worst advice I ever heard on being a leader was in a graduate course I took on leadership and ethics. The professors (there were two, which shows you what kind of course it was) claimed that it did no good to hold people accountable for mistakes in an organization. Having run businesses for years at the time, I argued against their advice vehemently, based on my own experience in the real world. It cost me an A in the class. Go figure.
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