They are engaged, energetic, committed to results, and do a great job. People in this stage believe that they’re great, but others are not as committed or capable. Sadly, most of them eventually move to Stage 3, and become the exact type of manager that they used to hate. Common phrases include: “this can’t be helped”, “no promises”, “it’s against policy”, or “we’re being screwed”. They see that others have power and good things in life that they lack, feel silently angry and frustrated, but blame others for their lack of control, and convince themselves they have no choice but to suck it up. People in this stage believe that “my life sucks” and they don’t fit in. Common phrases include “not fair”, “f***ed up”, or “do what I must to survive”. They may engage in physical or verbal abuse, vandalism or theft, and/or cluster together to form gangs. People in this stage talk as if life has treated them badly, hence they can do whatever they need to survive. They feel alienated from others, and are bitter about the unfair world they live in. People in this stage are of the view that “life sucks”. Here are the 5 stages in a nutshell: Stage 1: “Life Sucks”
In the book and our full 17-page book summary, we explain more about: The goal is to get your tribe to Stage 4, as that’s the launch-pad for Stage 5.
At each stage, you need to use targeted “leverage points” to upgrade your tribe. You can only move up the stages sequentially, one stage at a time. The higher the stage, the better the organizational performance, with Stage 5 being the ideal. The 5 Tribal StagesĮvery tribe has a dominant culture, and the authors have classified them into 5 stages, each with its unique language, types of behavior, and relationship structures. We’ll now take a brief look at these 5 stages. (ii) Behavior: the actions and types relationships being forged.įrom a 10-year field study of 24,000 people in two dozen organizations worldwide, the authors found that there are 5 tribal stages that define how people work and behave. (i) Language: the words used by people and A medium/large tribe of 50-150 people usually operates in a few cultural stages concurrently, and culture is in turn shaped by 2 elements: Their efforts create a wave, and they’re then led by that wave to fulfill the tribe’s will.Ī tribe’s culture determines its effectiveness. Instead, they work hard to upgrade themselves and their tribe, and are recognized as leaders due to the success they bring to the tribe. Tribal leadership is a mutual relationship between the tribe’s leaders and members. Tribal Leaders are not superstars. A small organization is a single tribe, while a large organization is a tribe made up of multiple tribes. When a tribe gets too big, it naturally splits into 2 tribes or more. Your tribe members are probably in your email and phone address book. What Are Tribes?Ī tribe is a group of 20-150 people, who are familiar enough with one another to stop and say “hi” if they were to meet in the streets. Tribes are the our way of organizing and living. In this Tribal Leadership summary, we’ll give an overview of what’s a tribe and outline the 5 sequential tribal stages.įor the full details, tips and examples, please get a copy of the book, or get a detailed overview with our complete book summary bundle.įor centuries, human beings have survived in tribes-from the Ice Age to farming communities and modern cities. “Tribal Leadership” is about leveraging the natural phenomenon of human tribes to upgrade any organizational culture and improve effectiveness, engagement, job satisfaction, and expectations of future successes. Just like how birds migrate in flocks and cattle move in herds, human beings naturally organize ourselves in tribes.