I saw a T shirt with this motto: “Your vibe attracts your tribe” and I thought how appropriate this is for my “CEOs on LinkedIn” theme this week, starting today.
Seth Godin defines a tribe in his aptly named book (recommended!):
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 joined tribes, be they religious, ethnic, 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 and enabling new tribes to be born―groups of ten or ten million who care about a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.
A tribe follows a leader who has a vision and mission. It’s a group of people with the same mission
and common bond. Some family and personal connection to transcend their daily distraction and keep an eye forward to the future and well-being of the tribe.
The strong help the weak and that changes over time such that everyone has a responsibility to protect the other. When some lag behind, the strong support and surround them to keep the tribe vibrant.
Tribes communicate within their units in effective ways, either a dialect or a language itself, or specific nonverbal communication can be witnessed by an outsider. Or via habits and customs passed along as effective ways to accomplish the goal.
When tribal members do not get along they look to a leader to help adjudicate. A sage intervenes, sometimes elder, sometimes blood-linear, always predetermined based on a certain attribute, and leadership expects follower-ship. This is ascertained as a prerequisite of tribal membership. Charisma or earned stripes reinforce the tribal leaders’ authority.
So let’s think carefully as CEOs of our own lives, or our departments, sole props, LLCs, and corporations.
Why would anyone in your tribe (defined as you wish and think: staff, clientele, vendors, colleagues, entourage, etc.) be attracted by your vibe?
Thinking of the widespread availability and global currency that the internet allows us today, as CEO/tribal leader, have you articulated that vibe well in your LinkedIn profile? More on this tomorrow. To have a weak vibe makes for a less than supportive tribe.
