• Author: Seth Godin
  • Paperback: 151 pages

Description

A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature.

Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming. And so the key question: Who is going to lead us?

The Web can do amazing things, but it can’t provide leadership. That still has to come from individuals— people just like you who have passion about something. The explosion in tribes means that anyone who wants to make a difference now has the tools at her fingertips. 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 leads a tribe of rock climbers up impossible cliff faces, while Mich Mathews, a VP at Microsoft, runs her internal tribe of marketers from her cube in Seattle. All they have in common is the desire to change things, the ability to connect a tribe, and the willingness to lead.

If you ignore this opportunity, you risk turning into a “sheepwalker”—someone who fights to protect the status quo at all costs, never asking if obedience is doing you (or your organization) any good. Sheepwalkers don’t do very well these days. Tribes will make you think (really think) about the opportunities in leading your fellow employees, customers, investors, believers, hobbyists, or readers. . . . It’s not easy, but it’s easier than you think. Published in 2008, 151 pages.
Description from book jacket

Research the author and the book using library resources

Information on the author’s life and works is available through our library’s online resources.

Discussion questions

Within the book Tribes, the author raises many discussable questions, including:

  • Human beings can’t help it: we need to belong. What tribes (companies, groups, hobbies, clubs, organizations, social networks, churches, employers, guilds, etc.) have you joined? Are you passionate about a certain singer? Do you donate to a particular charity?
  • Where in your life are you leading and inspiring other people? Who leads and inspires you?
  • Why do colleges and graduate schools turn out so many sheep/followers instead of leaders?
  • How much ego is involved in being a leader?
  • What happens when you build an organization that’s flat and open and treats employees or members with respect?
  • Why not you? Why not now? Do you have what you need to lead? Do you need more power or education or money? When will you have enough of what you need in order to start leading a tribe?
  • Also, see the current events discussion questions from readinggroupguide.com for more general discussion questions

Additional information

“Embrace Your Tribe – A Discussion & Interview with Seth Godin” from TametheWeb.com
Seth Godin’s blog

Readalikes

 

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