Success Tribal Leadership notes

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Our guide begins by presenting the “tribes” framework—what a tribe is, how tribal cultures develop through five stages, and what a tribal leader does.

Humans Coordinate in Tribes​

The authors explain that humans instinctively form tribes—in other words, we’ve evolved to organize ourselves in medium-sized groups of like-minded people. A tribe is a group of 20 to 150 people who readily recognize one another and generally get along. A tribe is a social network before it’s a work group. For example, the people you instinctively reach out to in crises are part of your tribe. An organization can have multiple tribes.

According to the authors, the strength of an organization’s tribes determines the strength of the organization. In turn, the strength of a tribe depends on its culture—how the members speak, relate to values, and form relationships. For example, if a tribe is made of ambitious, values-driven team players, it’ll contribute positively to the organization.



Dunbar calculated this number by comparing primate brain sizes to group size, and for humans, he found hunter-gatherer communities were “almost exactly 150” members.)

Tribal Culture Develops Through Five Stages​

The authors say that tribes develop through five distinct stages:​

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Stage 1: Struggling to stay afloat—Stage 1 tribes (such as gangs) form from individuals who’ve been born into underprivileged circumstances. ​

Stage 2: Resigned mediocrity—Stage 2 tribes are tired and disconnected from their work. They achieve average results, innovate little, and live for the weekends.​

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Stage 3: Survival of the fittest—Stage 3 tribes are competitive networks of ambitious, career-focused individuals. They achieve great results but struggle to work together.​

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Stage 4: Unified teamwork—Stage 4 tribes work as a team, and they’re productive, innovative, and connected to their work.​

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Each of these five stages exhibits several key markers:​

Marker #1: Tribe members speak a common language. People at each tribal stage use words and phrases characteristic of that stage. Particularly, the authors say that these language habits express their values—whether they deride them or hold them dear. ​

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Marker #2: Tribe members form relationships that flow from how they see values and how they speak. For example, people at Stage 3 build two-person relationships because they value power and control.​

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Tribal Leaders Develop the Tribe​

The tribal leader upgrades her tribe by coaching individuals one at a time until the whole tribe levels up. She learns to recognize the two key markers of each cultural stage, and she uses them to identify the tribes in her organization and start to upgrade their cultures. Then, a tribal leader coaches people one at a time through the two core coaching opportunities of each stage: Changing the individual’s language and relationships.​

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First, change his language. An individual’s language indicates how he sees reality. By changing his language, you help him adjust his view of how things work.​

Second, encourage him to build relationships. Strong relationships make a strong tribe, and building relationships helps a tribe member recognize his peers and gain support. ​

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when a tribal leader helps enough individuals upgrade their stage, the entire tribe will “tip over” into that next stage. Some tribe members will head toward higher stages before others, but once the leader creates that critical mass of aspiring individuals, the whole culture will level up.​

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Critical Mass and the Flywheel Effect​

cultural transformation and of the leader-tribe relationship invoke one underlying principle—build momentum—in two forms:​

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Create a critical mass: By accumulating enough energy moving toward the next stage up, you create a self-reinforcing feedback loop. get enough people on board and they’ll continue to fuel the cultural transformation even when you stop actively pushing the tribe along.​

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Create a flywheel effect: By developing and inspiring her tribe, the leader gains reciprocal goodwill and effort from the tribe members. As she “pushes” the cultural flywheel with her efforts, the tribe “pushes” along as well and, in time, they create a self-sustaining feedback loop that further develops the leader and tribe.​

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Stage 1: Life Is a Struggle​

Stage 1, individuals see the world as a harsh, dog-eat-dog environment. Their lives are generally cruel and punishing, and they become both miserable and tough.​

For the individual at Stage 1, things have never been easy. He likely grew up in poverty and has been exposed to criminal influences. Stage 1 individuals often resort to crime or have major vices, such as a drug addiction. Because of this, Stage 1 individuals struggle to hold down work—the authors say that they make up just 2% of the workforce. Stage 1 has two markers:​

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Marker #1: Language reflects misery. According to the authors, Stage 1’s language centers around the idea that life is fundamentally unfair—that the game is rigged. Given this, people at Stage 1 see values as lies to keep people disadvantaged and weak. To them, the truth is that life is unjust and cruel. ​

Marker #2: Relationships are strained or broken. For individuals at higher stages, the anything-goes behavior of Stage 1 is often too much to handle, so the Stage 1 individual easily loses friends and work.​

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Paths to Stage 2: Overcome Despair​

The authors explain that a tribal leader can coach an individual from Stage 1 to Stage 2 using the two core coaching opportunities:​

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Opportunity #1: Swap Stage 1 language for Stage 2 language. Help the Stage 1 individual see that life does work for some people. Seeing this, he’ll recognize that life isn’t universally awful, and that it might work out for him someday.​

Opportunity #2: Help him build relationships with a higher-stage tribe. Joining a higher-stage tribe—such as a volunteer group or religious community—gives a Stage 1 individual the support he needs to overcome vices and change his Stage 1 behaviors.

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According to the authors, three changes mark a successful shift from Stage 1 to Stage 2:​

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Change #1: Shifting language. The Stage 1 individual stops expressing that life is fundamentally unfair, and he starts to say that his life specifically is bad. ​

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Change #2: Tired resignation. The authors explain he’ll often become resigned: He’s unhappy that his life hasn’t worked out yet, but he sees that it can.​

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Change #3: Social shifts. When he moves toward Stage 2, the Stage 1 individual leaves behind relationships with people at Stage 1.​

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Develop a Coaching Habit​

The Coaching Habit: Develop a daily habit of coaching your team members. Specifically, Stanier recommends asking good questions and listening more than you speak. Three of Stanier’s questions apply best to Stage 1:​

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“What’s on your mind?”—This gently opens the conversation.​

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“Anything else?”—This encourages people to say things that might be difficult to say.​

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“How can I support you?”—This communicates that you hear, see, and want to help this person.​

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By using these questions well, you can build a relationship with a Stage 1 individual who’s likely never had support, and you can guide him to a healthier way of living.​

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Stage 2: Resigned Mediocrity​

The authors explain that Stage 2 culture is an apathetic mood characterized by passivity and disinterest in the work at hand. This culture is common at places such as the post office, chain retail stores, and other menial jobs.​

In a Stage 2 culture, everyone fixates on the negatives, allowing their circumstances to define them. Since negativity is contagious, this creates a downward spiral that yields a perpetually unhappy atmosphere. As with Stage 1, Stage 2 has two key markers:​

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Marker #1: Commiserating language. In a Stage 2 tribe, the authors say that people commiserate about things such as how management mistreats them, and they often bemoan corporate heavy-handedness.​

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Marker #2: Tenuous relationships. Since Stage 2 features mainly commiseration, people’s relationships don’t grow beyond the support of shared griping.​

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Paths to Stage 3: Inspire Ambition​

To coach individuals to Stage 3, find the few who are ready to level up and work with them one-on-one using the authors’ three steps: ​

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Step #1: Speak with Stage 3 language. This will help the Stage 2 individual learn and absorb the Stage 3 attitude, and she’ll begin to recognize her abilities to succeed.​

Step #2: Show the individual that you value her. Since the Stage 2 individual has often become disillusioned with management, you need to gain her trust. The authors recommend that you get to know what she does and what she’s accomplished. ​

Step #3: Encourage two-person relationships. The Stage 2 individual needs to develop better connections to move up. Encourage her to seek new friendships, especially with people who are at Stage 3. ​

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Two main changes mark a successful shift from Stage 2 to Stage 3, according to the authors:​

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Change #1: The Stage 2 individual starts using Stage 3 language. Instead of expressing that her life sucks, she’ll start to recognize her own potential—and she’ll express that with language like, “I’m awesome, I can definitely succeed.”​

Change #2: The Stage 2 individual assumes the mood of Stage 3. Now that she’s begun to recognize her own abilities and develop her confidence, the Stage 2 individual will assume the competitive attitude characteristic of Stage 3.

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