Guest Column: Tribal Leadership

By Bizbox

by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright

After a ten-year, 24,000-person study, we discovered that the success of a company is not a function of the leader, but of its "tribes": naturally-forming groups of between 20-150 people. A leader without a tribe isnʼt a leader; the tribe is the context in which leadership happens. In other words, great leadership must be understood as, essentially, tribe management. Tribes are more powerful than teams, companies, or even superstar CEOs, and yet their key leverage points have not been mapped—until now.

Great leaders know they can’t instantly change the culture of 100,000 people, or even 50 people, with gimmicks or trendy initiatives. Successful executives instead focus on developing their culture one tribe at a time. The heart of leadership development is helping leaders to upgrade the effectiveness of their tribes, taking these groups from “adequate” to “outstanding.”

Tribal Leaders focus on building the tribe—or upgrading the tribal culture. When they succeed, the tribe recognizes them as the leader, gives them discretionary effort, loyalty, and a track record of success. Divisions and companies run by Tribal Leaders set the standard of performance in their industries, from productivity and profitability, to employee retention. They are talent magnets, with people so eager to work with the leader that they will take a pay cut. Their efforts seem effortless, leaving many people puzzled by how they do it.

To own your role as a Tribal Leader, and to develop other Tribal Leaders, you must first understand what we call the Five Stages of Tribal Culture. Tribes come in five flavors, marked by differences behavior and defined by the basic way their members speak. Tribal Leadership starts with recognizing which stage you have, and doesn’t stop until you reach Stage 5.

Stage 1: "Life Sucks" Stage One runs the show in criminal clusters, like gangs and prisons, where the theme is “life sucks,” and people act out in despairingly hostile ways. We have found that this stage shows up in only two percent of corporate tribes, but leaders need to be on guard, as this is the zone of criminal behavior and workplace violence. The best way for a leader to intervene with such tribes is to get individual members out of the group and into another.

Stage 2: "My Life Sucks" The dominant culture in 25 percent of workplace tribes, says, in effect, “my life sucks". The mood is that of a cluster of apathetic victims. People in this stage are passively antagonistic, crossing their arms in judgment yet never getting interested enough to spark any passion. Their laughter is quietly sarcastic, resigned. Tribal Leaders intervene in Stage 2 by finding those individuals who want things to be different and mentoring them—one at a time. Tell them that you think they have potential. Over time, some will start to talk the Stage 3 language. At that point, the smart Tribal Leader invites them to mentor another member of the tribe.

Stage 3: "I’m Great" The dominant culture in half of U.S. workplace tribes, this theme is “I’m great” or, more fully, “I’m great, and you’re not.” In this culture, knowledge is power, and so people hoard knowledge, from client contacts to gossip. People at this stage have to win, and winning is personal. They’ll out-work, -think, and -maneuver their competitors, including those within their own company. The mood that results is a collection of “lone warriors,” wanting help and support and finding themselves disappointed when others don’t have their ambition or skill. What holds people at Stage 3 is the “hit” they get from winning, besting others, being the smartest and most successful. Tribal leaders intervene in Stage 3 by identifying people’s individual values and then seeing which cut across the tribe. Highlight the values that unite people, and then construct initiatives that bring these values to life.

Stage 4: "We’re Great" Stage 4 represents 22 percent of tribal cultures, where the theme is “we’re great"--and another group isn’t. With Stage 4 tribes, the Tribal Leader upgrades the tribe as the tribe embraces the leader. The leader transforms tribes of individuals into Stage 4 groups, and the tribal leaders in these groups focus people on their aspirations, and define measurable ways to make a worldwide impact. As the tribal attention shifts from “we’re better” to “we can make a global impact,” their culture shifts to Stage 5.

Stage 5: "Life is Great" Stage 5 is the culture of two percent of the workforce tribes, where the theme is “life is great” and the focus is on realizing potential by making history. Teams at Stage 5 have produced miraculous innovations. The team that produced the first Macintosh was Stage 5. We’ve seen this mood at Amgen. This stage is pure leadership, vision, and inspiration.

At first, you must just isten to what your employees are saying, how they talk, and then identify which of these five cultures dominates your tribe. Then, start bumping your tribe to the next stage by noticing the social groups that exist in your company. Remember: a tribe can only be upgraded one stage at a time. If you speak at a level higher than one stage above, your message will not be heard.

For specific examples and coaching tips, check out our book, Tribal Leadership. These steps will help you move from adequate to outstanding, and produce tribes that want to change the world.

Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright are coauthors of Tribal Leadership (HarperCollins) and partners of the management consulting firm CultureSync.

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October 13, 2008 1:25 PM