I just finished the book, Tribes, by Seth Godin. It's a quick read with lots of stories to illustrate the finer points of leadership and community-building. Here's just one nugget that resonated with me, on the Anatomy of a Movement:
"Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements:
- A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we are trying to build.
- A connection between and among the leader and the tribe
- Something to do–the fewer limits, the better.
Too often organizations fail to do anything but the third."
Isn't that the truth!
Telling the story about who we are is easy to overlook. When I run into social entrepreneurs or other innovators with a cause, it's one of the first things I look for on their website. I'm often disappointed. If I want to join your cause, I first want to know who you are and why you are so passionate about your cause.
People have told me that I'm visionary but I have trouble sometimes articulating the future I'm trying to build. I get can lost in the nuts and bolts.
Re: connection between and among the leader and the tribe. This can be one of the hardest things to engender as the leader. A many-to-many conversation can ignite a blog posting, yet remain elusive without the right combination of an engaging topic, enough space for others to jump in, and an environment of valuing all the voices.
As Simon once said, do you have a movement, or just an idea? An updated twist based on the above:
"Do you have a movement or just a lot of activity?"