Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us

Seth Godin

Oct 2008 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

The New York Times, BusinessWeek, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller that redefined what it means to be a leader.
 
Since it was first published almost a decade ago, Seth Godin's visionary book has helped tens of thousands of leaders turn a scattering of followers into a loyal tribe. If you need to rally fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers around an idea, this book will demystify the process.
 
It's human nature to seek out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads).  Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. Social media gives anyone who wants to make a difference the tools to do so.
 
With his signature wit and storytelling flair, Godin presents the three steps to building a tribe: the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.
 
If you think leadership is for other people, think again—leaders come in surprising packages. Consider Joel Spolsky and his international tribe of scary-smart software engineers. Or Gary Vaynerhuck, a wine expert with a devoted following of enthusiasts. Chris Sharma led a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, ran her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle.
 
Tribes will make you think—really think—about the opportunities to mobilize an audience that are already at your fingertips. It's not easy, but it's easier than you think.
 

 

Ratings and reviews

This book is full of inspirational "stories" only. There is no actual content to this book. I did pull out some quotes that would motivate and guide you in the right direction with leadership; however, they were too few and far between.

Challenge the status quo and lead. One of my favorite quotes from this book is: "If you insist on playing today's games by yesterdays rules, then you're stuck." (pg 96) Another great quote is : " the very nature of leadership is that you're not doing what's been done before. If you were, then you wouldn't be leading you would be following."

I recently started a small tribe, and year after year were moving to do bigger and better things. This book has a lot of anecdotes that I saw myself experience and ones that I hope to experience. I really loved it. It's a great pick me up as well.

About the author

Seth Godin is the author of more than a dozen bestsellers that have changed the way people think about marketing, leadership, and change, including Permission Marketing, Purple Cow, All Marketers Are Liars, Small is the New Big, The Dip, Tribes, Linchpin, and Poke the Box. He's an entrepreneur, the founder of several successful businesses, and a popular TED speaker. He writes one of the most influential business blogs in the world at sethgodin.com.