Tribes: A Review

We got a little behind in our monthly review of books, but we are back now. Just a reminder, these books have been purchased by us. We have been given no compensation for this review. This month’s book is Tribes by Seth Godin. Though the book is geared toward leaders, it applies well to the lives of authors. After all, you are the leader of your readers, or tribe, and we here at Lucid Books believe that all authors would do well to read this book. Seth starts the book out describing what a modern day tribe looks like. He explains that we all, as human beings, have a desire to belong to a group of people. We want to have a community of people who have the same goals as us or like the same things as us, and this is why we are naturally drawn to leaders.

He goes on to explain how being a part of a tribe now is so easy, and how you can be a part of more than one thanks to the internet. But, the internet is just a tool. Great leaders, effective leaders know that what really makes a tribe successful is how the leader relates to the people of the tribe. He goes on to write about many things that make a great leader.

One important thing that makes a great leader is to realize that leadership is not management. Managers do exactly what their name suggests, they manage. They manage people, they manage a process. They do what they are told. Leaders on the other hand create change. They see what a group of people needs, or how to improve their lives or their work environment, and they go about enacting change.

He also speaks to marketing in this day and age. Marketing used to be about advertisements, but now marketing is about engaging the tribe where they are. It is about leading the tribe. Marketing requires that the leader know their group of people and show them what they need. It is also about seeking out the right kind of people for the product or service that you have. Because if the right people are engaged in the right way, their word of mouth will be more valuable than any advertisement.

Seth notes that great leaders do not strive to be in the spotlight. They do not wish to have statues erected in their honor. Great leaders want to enable their tribe to thrive. Yes, most of the time great leaders will be in the spot light, but they are able to shine that light onto their team.

He makes it clear that more people in your tribe is not necessarily better. Yes, some tribes will naturally be large, and some will have to be large for the kind of movement. However, he states that adding to your tribe will solve nothing. A great leader, instead, focuses on tightening their tribe. There is no way that your message will appeal or inspire everyone, and trying to lead in this way results in leading no one at all.

One of the most important things that Seth talks about is faith. The faith that is required to be a leader. There will always be fears, there will always be reasons why you shouldn't take that leap of faith. You will always be able to come up with an excuse to not be a leader. What you need to have is faith. You need to believe in something enough that you have faith that you will be able to enact the necessary change. Will it be hard? Sure. Will there be set-backs? Yes. Are these things not worth enduring for the power of change? That is where faith comes in.

All in all this book is worth reading. We believe that it will help authors to lead their tribes and be successful at what they do. You can find Seth’s book on Amazon.