Good Evening, Social Rabbit here with your guide to the world of social media.
Today being Mental Monday it’s time to review a book related to social media, today my choice is Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
Your Facebook page is all about an idea, you are the leader, on Twitter you tweet out ideas and thoughts as the leader and you have followers – see what I mean?
So for me this book is one that instead of talking about Facebook etc, gets right down the grass-roots and talks about leadership, what it is and what it takes. If you want to create a community then you are a leader, this book is one that stands out for me in terms of defining what a leader should be doing, and how ANYONE can be a leader it just takes faith. My favourite bits from the book are (these are all direct quotes):
- Leadership is about creating change that you believe in
- Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make – stories that sell and stories that spread
- Leaders make a ruckus
- Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate
- It only takes two things to turn a group of people into a tribe: 1) a shared interest, 2) a way to communicate
- Leadership is a choice. It’s the choice not to do nothing.
- Showing up isn’t sufficient
- Through your actions as a leader you attract a tribe that wants to follow you
- Great leaders don’t try to please everyone
- The lesson is that one person with a persistent vision can make change happen, whether climbing rocks or delivering services
- Changing things – pushing the envelope and creating a future that doesn’t exist yet (at the same time you’re criticised by everyone else) – requires bravery
- Tribes are the most effective media channels ever, but they’re not for sale or for rent. Tribes don’t do what you want; they do what they want
- The challenge for the leader is to help your tribe sing, whatever form that song takes
- Caring is the key emotion at the centre of the tribe
- Part of leadership (a big part of it, actually) is the ability to stick with the dream for a long time
- There’s a small price for being too early, but a huge penalty for being too late
But beware… “you can’t have a tribe without a leader – and you can’t be a leader without a tribe”.
Seth also talks about creating a Micromovement (this is one thing that you as the leader believe in) and gives 5 things to do and 6 key principles:
Things to do:
- Publish a manifesto
- Make it easy for followers to connect with you
- Make it easy for your followers to connect with one another
- Realise that money is not the point of the movement
- Track your progress
Key Principles
- Transparency is really your only option
- Your movement needs to be bigger than you
- Movements that grow, thrive
- Movements are made most clear when compared to the status quo or to movements that work to push the other direction
- Exclude outsiders
- Tearing others down is never helpful to a movement as building your followers up
So everyone out there with a Facebook Page, a Twitter account, a YouTube channel etc you are all being a leader and creating a following/tribe. Have you noticed how the same points are raised again and again in regards to social media, eg the transparency, the caring and that it takes time? In the rush to get x number of followers we often forget this. So if you want to learn more check out Tribes, and consider your leadership of your tribe….
Got comments? Please tell me below or on the Facebook Page. F.Y.I. Just to confirm I was NOT paid to write this, it is a completely honest opinion.
