I will be presenting a presentation on the bestselling book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us written by Seth Godin. This is a popular book by a popular artist that I recommend students, public relations professionals, marketing professionals, and advertisers to read.
Seth is the author of ten books that have made it to the bestseller list. His books are sold around the world, not just in the United States. He is not only an author but also an entrepreneur and marketing agent. Godwin is the founder and CEO of Yoyodone which is the a leading interactive direct marketing company. Yahoo! picked up Yoyodyne in 1998. He is a wise man and very driven. His work ethic shows through his accomplishments and awards and through his presentations and books.
There are several things that I learned from this book. It is full of great advice and information that will benefit all of its readers. I will focus on some of the specific points that I found important.
A tribe is the group of people that you are working with and for. It is all about connection. It is important to keep your tribe happy and to connect with one another. A way of connection is by keeping shared interest in focus. A tribe most also know how to communicate the message with one another. For example you want your tribe to know what it is you are selling, or you are promoting. You need a good way to communicate that with your tribe in order to keep them informed and part of the group. If you keep them happy they will more than likely remain loyal to you. Give your tribe members what they want and need and in return you will get a supportive tribe.
Word of mouth is emphasized throughout the book as a strong communication style. Word of mouth means to pass along a message from one person to another. It can be a very effective way to get your message across. WOM can be associated with blogs, passing along information verbally from person to person, social networking, viral messages, etc. People are more likely to believe WOM. It is a great marketing tool and essential to use in today’s various markets according to Tribes .
Leadership is also a reoccurring theme throughout Tribes . Seth believes that is important to lead your tribe and challenge the status quo. Seth says that being a leader shapes you into a charismatic person which is what we need today. He believes that leaders today also need to bring about new opportunities leaving the traditional way behind. Also, he doesn’t just see the boss as a leader but everyone who is involved in the tribe. We can all learn from others’ leadership. It is important to take a stand and guide others by coaching, directing, and helping our tribe members.
What really surprised me with this book was more of how it was written not the actual content. The content was very well put together and extremely informative but because I have been introduced to Seth Godin previously in another PR class I was aware of what Tribes contained among its pages. I did not however find it surprising what an easy and quick read this was. It was to the point and used great ways of expressing his ideas. Seth did a wonderful job compiling this book.
I am interested in reading more books by Seth Godin. I really found his style of writing entertaining in addition to being educational. If his other books are as great as this one then I have to get my hands on them. Also, I am very interested in learning more on leadership. I am currently taking my second leadership course and I have found both of them to be great ways to teach students how to lead in their everyday lives not just in the professional world. I am interested in learning more about real life leaders and the styles that they have successfully used.
This book is strongly recommended. It is a great read in addition to being very informative as well as interesting. The book flows like a conversation not like your ordinary text book. This is a clip I found online that is of one of Seth Godwin’s presentations on leading the various tribes that we belong to. It is not too long, less than 20 minutes, and worth a few minutes of your time. Seth makes some great points. If you get a chance, I would recommend watching this clip in addition to reading the book.