Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization - by Dave Logan, John King, & Halee Fischer-Wright
Date read: 2019-04-02How strongly I recommend it: 6/10
(See my list of 150+ books, for more.)
Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Outlines the 5 different types of tribes and how to recognize them through their actions and words. The ideal state is to oscillate between stage 4 and 5. Recommended for leaders trying to motivate their teams to be more inspired.
Contents:
My Notes
A tribe is any group of people between about 20 and 150 who know each other enough that, if they saw each other walking down the street, would stop and say "hello."
A small company is a tribe, and a large company is a tribe of tribes.
First, they spent most of their efforts building strong relationships between Griffin's tribal members-its employees, volunteers, and patients. Second, instead of telling people what to do, they engineered experiences (such as the retreats) in which staff members would look at the same issues they were dealing with, so that strategy became everyone's problem. Third, they got out of the way and let people contribute in their own way to the emerging tribal goals.
Without the leaders building the tribe, a culture of mediocrity will prevail. Without an inspired tribe, leaders are impotent.
If tribes are the most powerful vehicles within companies, cultures are their engines.
Tribal Leadership focuses on two things, and only two things: the words people use and the types of relationships they form.
People at this stage are despairingly hostile, and they band together to get ahead in a violent and unfair world.
Organizations usually don't hire Stage One individuals, and when they do, they are quick to expel them.
Most people talk as though they are alienated from organizational concerns.
People at Stage One don't believe life sucks because for them it does suck. They think they are reporting the way it is. In fact, their view of life is a direct consequence of the language they use.
Stage One is where people embrace this feeling of being different to the point where their functional tribes (with a dominant Stage Two and beyond) disown them. They are alienated, adrift, but also free to act on any impulse.
Stage One can only lead to one of three places: a Stage One tribe (e.g., a gang), death, or Stage Two.
There are two ways to move from Stage One to Stage Two. First, the person has to substitute "life sucks" with "my life sucks"-the mantra of Stage Two. Second, the person can move to a tribe where the offending behavior is not tolerated.
Further, encourage him to notice ways in which life itself works. For example, a person can notice that your life is pretty good, so it's possible that his may improve.
Encourage him to cut ties with people who share the "life sucks" language.
The Stage Two talk is that they've seen it all before and watched it all fail.
There is little to no innovation and almost no sense of urgency, and people almost never hold one another accountable for anything.
The focus of Tribal Leadership is to move Stage Two to Three before asking anything new of the group.
People talk as though they are disconnected from organizational concerns, seeming to not care about what's going on. They do the minimum to get by, showing almost no initiative or passion. They cluster together in groups that encourage passive-aggressive behavior.
From a managerial perspective, nothing seems to work-team building, training, even selective terminations appear to do nothing to change the prevailing mood. The culture is an endless well of unmet needs, gripes, disappointments, and repressed anger.
The essence of Stage Two is "my life sucks," and it accounts for 25 percent of workplace cultures.
When they are presented with new visions, their reaction is "We tried that before, and it didn't work then and won't work now." They tend to be passive, doing the minimum amount of work necessary to get by.
People tend to use phrases like "I'll try," "I can't promise," "I'm not sure what my boss will say about that," "That's not possible," "We can't do that," "It's against policy," and "I can't make someone else do their job."
Sometimes the cause of Stage Two is not a person but a system.
In our research, people blamed lack of education, poor social networks, lack of political skill, an inability to think strategically, or an unsupportive spouse who wouldn't let them work the extra hours required for success.
The fact is that Stage Two wants to avoid accountability at all costs and will invent reasons to remain disconnected and disengaged.
Bosses who know the names and ages of employees' children, their hobbies and interests, do better than those who offer programs such as "employee of the month."
If you try the technique of listening to and resolving issues, and it fails, it means you're dealing with low to middle Stage Two. Instead, try working one-on-one with those who want things to be different. Upgrade the culture, and people will take care of their own issues.
Spot and work with the few members of Stage Two who want things to be different-those people at late Stage Two-and work with them one-on-one. Start by explaining to each one that you see potential in him, that you want to assist him in developing leadership. Depending on how long he's been in Stage Two, he may have developed an immunity to praise, believing it to be a technique of manipulation. Your goal is to build both trust in your intentions and confidence in his abilities.
Encourage her to make a friend. Then another friend. Then another friend. In other words, encourage her to establish dyadic (two-person) relationships.
The dominant culture in 49 percent of workplace tribes in the United States, is "I'm great." Or, more fully, "I'm great, and you're not."
Because they have to do the tough work (remembering that others just aren't as savvy), their complaint is that they don't have enough time or competent support.
Professionals usually cap out at Stage Three.
People engage in anything that's going on, with energy and commitment, but when you listen closely, they talk mostly about themselves and focus on appearing smarter and better than others.
They rarely bring people together, they resist sharing information except when it's necessary, and they pride themselves on being better informed than others.
People at this stage complain that they don't have enough time or support and that the people around them aren't as competent or as committed as they are.
He feels that he is putting more in than he's getting out.
"The first question to ask is, 'Does the job require [Stage Three]?' " Coaching people to drop behavior that is required by the system is harmful to everyone. "If he's doing what the job requires," Beck added, "don't bother him." The question to ask is, would you be more successful in Stage Three or Stage Four?
The issue that they need to address, especially later in the stage, is that their effectiveness is capped by their time, which is a limited resource. The more the person can accept help from others, the more he will see that help from others is not only helpful but necessary to his becoming a fully developed leader. Once he begins to form strategies that rely on others, and in which others rely on him, he will have taken a big step into Stage Four.
It's no more substantive than a presidential debate, each making himself great by showing that the other is less great-a common characteristic of Stage Three.
The middle of Stage Three, then, is when people find others like themselves-people with similar gifts, or different gifts but at the same level.
"No matter how hard I work, I'm valued for my results, not for who I am."
A move to late Stage Three often comes as people hit age forty or experience a personal loss. It often manifests itself by a desire to give back.
Although people at Stage Three often feel treated as a commodity, the truth is that they treat others that way, as well.
Those at Stage Three tend to hire employees who are at Stage Two. The moment a job candidate looks more intelligent, ambitious, or promotion-worthy than the boss, they are nixed from consideration.
You form a series of dyadic (two-person) relationships, so that if we were to graph your network, it would look like a hub with spokes. You can get what you want from each person by using some combination of personal appeals, charm, manipulating the truth, distorting information, trading favors, and selectively disclosing facts.
You hoard information. You try to keep your "spokes" (the other person in your dyadic relationships) from forming relationships with one another.
You rely on gossip and spies for political information. This behavior happened less often in organizations where people don't care about politics, but it is almost universal whenever people feel their position is insecure.
People at the middle of Stage Three have an intense focus on time management, since they believe that they can rely only on themselves.
You talk about values. However, your focus is "my values," "what I've come to see," and "the principles I hold dear." In essence, your view of values is that they give you an edge in ethics and time management
People at Stage Three report, almost universally, that they don't have enough time, don't get enough support, and are surrounded by people less able and dedicated than they are.
If you point out that he is Stage Three, especially if he is in the early or middle portions, he may deny the charge and become angry, seemingly out of proportion to the charge.
Network with other people who share your aspirations.
Visit our Web site-www.triballeadership.net-for more information and to join the community.
Find a mentor at Stage Four.
Encourage him to work on projects that are bigger than anything he can do alone. In short, assign him work that requires partnership.
Point out that his success has come through his own efforts, but that the next level of success is going to require a totally different style. In other words, show him that what's brought him to this point will not be enough to move him forward.
When the person complains that he doesn't have time and that others aren't as good (the two chief gripes at Stage Three), show that he has crafted his work life so that no one can really contribute to him.
"You have to publicly execute people who disobey the rules, otherwise everyone thinks you don't mean what you say, and then there's no leadership, only bulls---."
What advice he would give to people still in the "wild, wild west" aspect of Stage Three: "I would ask what their goal is. If it's to win, keep on doing it. If it's to make a larger impact, how do you create relationships to get what it is you want them to do? You can't do it by yourself; you have to work with others."
The rule for Stage Four is this: the bigger the foe, the more powerful the tribe.
Teams are the norm, focused around shared values and a common purpose. Information moves freely throughout the group.
Our data show that people tend to take one of three paths:
Their physical space didn't match the values of the Stage Four tribe they wanted to be. Manager's offices lined the walls, with Dilbert-style cubicles in the middle for the people who were doing the work. Many of these companies preached "open-door policies" and " 'we' not 'me,' " yet their physical design sent a different message.
Tendency toward meetings of at least three team members, giving credit and keeping blame, and support from the entire team (encouraged by the leader) during training.
What if my CEO is at Stage Three? We recommend creating a pocket of excellence in whatever small ways are allowed by the boss, and then let the results speak for themselves.
Identifying and leveraging core values, and aligning on a noble cause.
We'll offer two ways to detect values, both of which we've learned from people in our studies. The first-longest but most effective-is to tell a story about how you learned one of your core values.
The second way to get at someone's values is to ask a simple question and follow it up with three to five open-ended questions. A good question is "What are you proud of?" The person will usually start out with résumé-style accomplishments: a job, a degree, or making a tough sale. After a few open-ended questions, you'll find the reason that accomplishment gives the person pride is that it's helped people, supported the family, or made a difference for someone. In short, you'll find that the pride ties actions to values, and you'll learn what those values are.
Leaders of stable Stage Four tribes engage in a questioning process to find new ways to express the values. What projects do our values say we should begin? What initiatives do our values say we should kill?
The single most important takeaway from Stage Four is that Tribal Leaders follow the core values of the tribe no matter what the cost.
Core values are what we "stand in" and a noble cause is what we "shoot for."
From our research, there are two ways to set a noble cause. First, keep asking "in service of what?"
The second technique to setting a noble cause is to ask what we call the Big Four Questions: "What's working well?" "What's not working?" "What can we do to make the things that aren't working, work?" and "Is there anything else?"
Stage Four organizations don't print values and the noble cause on the backs of employee badges, emblazen them on company mugs, or hang them on the bulletin board next to the cafeteria menu. Instead, leaders talk about them, base decisions on them, and engage tribal members in discussions about what they mean.
The oil change is a chance for tribal members to revisit what's happened, understand events from all sides, resolve issues, and remove any process, system, or habit that's inconsistent with its values and noble cause. People report that an oil change "made me fall in love with my coworkers all over again" and "reminds me why I love working here." The process of an oil change is for the group to talk through three questions: (1) what is working well, (2) what is not working well, and (3) what the team can do to make the things that are not working well, work. Tribes at Stage Two will voice grievances with no real desire to fix the problems. Groups at Stage Three will find that these questions lead to speech-making and attacks on others. Only when the tribe is aligned on core values and a noble cause (and has the other elements of Stage Four as described in the next two chapters) does it have a basis to assess its behavior, find shortcomings, and restore its focus on its principles.
We came to term this process an "oil change," and we recommend that tribes schedule it at least once a quarter. The oil change is a chance for tribal members to revisit what's happened, understand events from all sides, resolve issues, and remove any process, system, or habit that's inconsistent with its values and noble cause.
The process of an oil change is for the group to talk through three questions: (1) what is working well, (2) what is not working well, and (3) what the team can do to make the things that are not working well, work.
If people don't see the common ground, Tribal Leaders point it out. As we heard Glen Esnard say at an early Private Client Group meeting to two people who disagreed on an issue, "You both signed an agreement that says the team comes first. What's best for the team here?" With that, he walked away-and the two people resolved their disagreement.
A great question for coaches to ask is this: "What triads, if built, will fix this problem?" The "black belt" version of the question (most useful in stable Stage Four cultures) is "What triads will help us spot and fix problems so big we can't even think of them?"
Next time you go to Starbucks, take two friends, not one. Once people see the value in a group of three, they often make three the minimum number for a meeting. Our clients have told us that it's changed their entire corporate tribes.
Where trust is an issue, there is no trust. Stage Four assumes trust. Stage Three says trust must be earned.
Know the values and current projects of every person in your network.
Use what former LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman describes as "the theory of small gifts." Before facilitating an introduction between two people, you have to have the credibility with both to pull it off. Hoffman describes the need for this practice to be systematic and ongoing: "Do little things for each person," such as sending them an article that is about one of their interests, remembering their birthday, and so on.
Be great at something, world-class if possible. We're often asked by people at Stage Two how they can triad with people who won't even return their calls.
The Five Components of Tribal Strategy: values, noble cause, outcomes, assets, and behaviors.
The key to identifying these first two aspects of strategy is for the Tribal Leader to engage others in a questioning process about what the tribe stands for (values) and what it lives for (noble cause).
Once values and a noble cause are set, tribal strategy involves three conversations. The first is "what we want," or outcomes. The second is "what we have," or assets. The third is "what we will do," or behaviors.
It's imperative that the Tribal Leader keep these three discussions separate.
An outcome, by contrast, is a present state of success that morphs into an even bigger victory over time. The difference is the contrast between "I hope we make it-it'll be great when we turn this around" (setting a goal) and "we have already succeeded, and this is how it looks at this point in the process" (succeeding now with an outcome).
"If you walk on board a ship and the brass is polished, the guns will shoot straight...Walk on a ship where the brass is dirty, and that's a ship where we have to check the guns." Stage Four cultures tend to express their values in both big things (guns) and little things (brass).
After identifying values and setting preliminary outcomes, the tribe should turn to identifying assets in a conversation focused on "What do we have?" An asset is anything the tribe and its people have right now, and it includes equipment, technology, land, relationships, goodwill, brand, public awareness, reputation, culture, and drive.
There are two special types of assets that the leader needs to make sure the tribe considers. The first are core assets, which we define as "assets so central to the tribe that they may be invisble to people inside."
"What do we have a knack for doing better than anyone else?" This question will often reveal core assets.
Ask outsiders what your tribe's core assets are.
The second special type of asset, almost always ignored, is critical to strategic success: "common ground." It answers the question, "How are we seen by those with whom we want to transact?"
Before a strategy can be successfully implemented, the tribe must answer "yes" to three critical questions. Until that happens, the strategy is unfinished.
The first question is whether the tribe has enough assets to accomplish the outcomes.
A good question to ask is, "What assets do we have that we haven't identified yet?" Second, the tribe can modify its behaviors so that they require fewer assets (often, time, money, and people). A good question is, "Is there a faster, cheaper way to get this done?"
Test Question #3: Will Behaviors Accomplish Outcomes?
Their language revolves around infinite potential and how the group is going to make history-not to beat a competitor, but because doing so will make a global impact. This group's mood is "innocent wonderment," with people in competition with what's possible, not with another tribe.
Griffin is a model for the best organizations in the world as its culture oscillates between Stage Four and Stage Five.
The job of you as Tribal Leader is to expedite this journey for each person, so that a new critical mass forms at Stage Four. When that happens, the tribe will see itself as a tribe, just as Griffin does, and embrace you as the leader.
People start the climb to Stage Four in one of two ways. The first is that they have an epiphany that Stage Three won't get them the success they crave, and then they seek out a stronger community. The second, common in high technology and the sciences, is that they join a technical project that is bigger than one person can take on.
Your tribes hardly ever refer to the competition, except to note how remarkable their own culture is by comparison, and how far their results outstrip industry norms.
There is almost no fear, stress, or workplace conflict. People talk as though the world is watching them, which may well be the case, as their results are making history.
Stage Five accounts for just under 2 percent of workplace cultures. It's marked by "life is great" language, devoid of any competitor. It's not that competitors don't exist; it's that they don't matter.
At Stage Three, the focus is "my" values. At Four, it's "our" values. At Five, it's "global"-or "resonant"-values, so the only important factor is that values can work together.
People at Stage Five find themselves in a unique role. Their Stage Four and Five successes make them celebrities, but most shun the spotlight. In time, many go to work for a cause in which they bring together multiple tribes to achieve an outcome far greater than any single one could do alone.