I was excited to get to speak with Glenn the Geek about our WEG Business blog in an interview for his WEG 2010 Radio Show that will come out probably next week. I will let you know when the pod cast is live. Glenn and I discussed aspects of the WEG and he really got me thinking about our tribe here on the blog.
Managing tribes is a useful concept for current business pracitices. A tribe is concept/word used by Seth Godin to describe a movement or a group that shares a connection, language or a message. For example if you are reading this blog you are possibly a member of the KY WEG for business tribe. There is a difference between a crowd or group of people and a tribe. A tribe is a group of people who actively seek out a particular group of people doing something because of their connection.
It's not business as usual and it takes work and there aren't hard fast rules for creating a tribe. You can't make people do what you want them to they choose -- not you. You can however you can lead them.
Seth's concept is based around the idea that "brand management" is dead and that the old approach was internally focused and I have to agree. He says it best, "It starts with permission, the understanding that the real asset most organizations can build isn't an amorphous brand but is in fact the privilege of delivering anticipated, personal and relevant messages to people who want to get them."
In Seth's latest book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us he argues, "that leadership is the best marketing tactic to any organization--a company, a school, a church, a job seeker. Our role as business leaders is to find, connect and lead tribes in order to make change happen." On his blog people of his tribe write their tatics and ideas on how to build your own tribe.
What does this have to do with WEG business?
Number 8 on the list is to Set the Story of the Tribe. Set the Vision. Define the tribe's journey, goals, interactions, future, and how teamwork will get them where they want to go in a story that epitomizes what the tribe is about. Weave every person, skill, and resource into the story. Currently the Chamber Marketing & Communications committee and our blog leaders are weaving every person, skill and resource into this blog for the benefit of the Georgetown, KY business members and leaders.
Here is a video of seth godin on how to build and lead your tribe over at Mixergy.com.
Seth Godin, a best selling author who knows a lot about marketing, the spread of ideas and managing customers and employees with respect.
Very nice post. The concept of Tribe here reminds me of the phrase "community of practice" another way of describing "groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Etienne
Wenger, http://www.ewenger.com/theory/).
Posted by: Grover Hibberd | December 03, 2008 at 14:12