This is a short book and a quick read. It contains 147 pages. But, fear not, the pages are small, the margins generous and the print sizeable, while the paragraph breaks and subtitles are abundant. Seth Godin knows what he thinks and means what he says. Which is basically this: in the modern world success for individuals and organisations does not come from managing processes, it comes from leading tribes.
If you want to make a difference, if you want to get on, be a heretic and lead a tribe, says Godin. Here are three examples of how he says it:
Leadership isn't difficult, but you've been trained for years to avoid it. I want to help you realise that you already have all the skills you needs to make a huge difference, and I want to sell you on doing it. The best thing is that you don't need to wait until you've got exactly the right job or built the organisation or moved up three rungs on the corporate ladder. You can start right now. (p.13)
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Crowds and Tribes
Two different things:
A crowd is a tribe without a leader.
A crowd is a tribe without communication.
Most organisations spend their time marketing to the crowd. Smart organisations assemble the tribe.
Crowds are interesting, and they can create all sorts of worthwhile artifacts and market effects. But tribes are longer lasting and more effective. (p.30)
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The Look of the Leader
What does a leader look like?
I've met leaders all over the world, on several continents, and in every profession. I've met young leaders and old ones, leaders with big tribes and tiny ones.
I can tell you this: leaders have nothing in common.
They don't share gender or income level or geography. There's no gene, no schooling, no parentage, no profession. In other words, leaders aren't born. I'm sure of it.
Actually, they do have one thing in common. Every tribe leader I've ever met shares one thing: the decision to lead. (p.145)
Do you see how that could get a bit tiring after 147 pages?
It's just as well he's basically right, otherwise it would also be deeply irritating. As it is, it is both mildly irritating and mildly illuminating. At moments, it was even mildly inspiring. He is right. At least I think so. But this is one of those cases where a blog post has been stretched to book length. A nice idea, and some good illustrative anecdotes, do not really need 147 pages to be related. Frankly, after a while, you've just had enough, you've got it and you start to get nit-pickingly fussy about paragraph length and sentence construction. Which is a shame, because I enjoyed reading this book - I even enjoyed being irritated by it - and this review is coming out more negative than I feel.
But I still have a slight block when it comes to forms of thinking for which the subordinate clause is off-limits. Could it be that more complex grammar reveals doubt? Nuance? Lack of Authority? Ambiguity? Sometimes you just want Mr Godin to be a heretic himself and write a long sentence... Go on, dare you.
Recommendation: worth reading, probably. But I suspect not much more than the blog. www.sethgodin.com, by the way.
