If anyone out there still hasn’t at least skimmed Seth Godin’s landmark book “Tribes” please run out and do so immediately. Seth Godin has become one of the leading people in the world at seeing how the present is shaping the future—and in his book Tribes, he talks about how small, medium or even gigantic Tribes, are shaping the future. Apple fanboys are a tribe, tv.WineLibrary.com is a tribe, TED is a tribe, the Church is a tribe, shoot even Al Qaeda is a tribe. Tribes happen because “people” (read leaders) see something that can be better, something that is incomplete or something that your passionate about and those leaders (plus a small cadre of friends and like-minded cohorts) laud, sweat, work for, beg, borrow, and or steal to make that change or progress happen.
One prerequisite for being a leader of a tribe seems to be being a heretic on at least one level or another. Now I know that the overwhelming majority of people that just read the word heretic, their minds just ran to their favorite Church leader they like to bash or someone who’s theology they don’t line up with. But a quick trip to Dictionary.com reveals that a heretic is (probably better abstractly described as…)
her-e-tic [n. her-i-tik; adj. her-i-tik, huh-ret-ik]
3. anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.
These are the leaders people LOVE to throw rocks at. Steve Jobs is a heretic, Barack Obama is a heretic (don’t quote that out of context please…), Twitter is a heretic, and Madonna is a heretic too. These innovators assembled a movement of similarly minded people and road that wave to making the change they (and their Tribe) were so desperately looking for.
Here are a couple of Seth Godin quotes to help frame what I’m talking about:
“If your a middle-of-the-roader you don’t bother joining a tribe”
“The market is now way less impressed with average stuff for average people…Today the market wants change. The market demands change.”
“Leaders lead when…they connect with their tribes—and when they help their tribe connect with themselves”
“Heretics are the new leaders, the ones who challenge the status quo. Who get out in front of their tribes, who create movements. The marketplace now rewards and embraces the heretics. … and for the first time it’s profitable, powerful, and productive. This shift might be bigger than you think. Suddenly, heretics, troublemakers and change agents aren’t merely thorns in our side they are the keys to our success.”
So, if your reading this, you might ask, “Okay great, that’s wonderful that they were able to take their platform, but how does this affect me? I’m not designing the new iPod anytime soon.” This affects you because whether you’re are painter, or a musician or you run a business steam cleaning carpets, you have the ability to attract and lead a tribe. The internet has made the world flat when it comes to reaching people all over the world. If you’re a band, you can have your music available around the world for $20, if your a painter, you can sell prints online for 70% or more commission, if you just help people out of the truck of your car you can have a Facebook page and connect with likeminded people around the world.
Love Without Agenda loves heretics. We want to find people who look around their world and don’t connect with the way how most people see poverty as a incurable, people who don’t think that being Jesus to people means yelling and fighting about their favorite doctrine, and people who want to help, but don’t know where to start. This world needs more heretics, not the kinds that scream and yell at the establishment that they differ with—the ones that build Apple Computers, the ones that brink blankets to people sleeping outside, and the ones that do whatever should be done in your neighborhood (but isn’t).
Being this kind of heretic is both unbelievably painful and unbelievably rewarding.
If you are one, we’d love to get in touch with you.
Tags: Heretic, Leadership, Seth Godin, Tribes
