“An individual artist needs only a thousand true fans in her tribe. It’s enough.” – Seth Godin
Picture this: I was walking around the library and saw a book called Tribes by Seth Godin. I was intrigued, I picked it up and essentially did not put it down until I finished it.
The amount of knowledge that was shared in this book blew my mind. I took an insane amount of notes and I gained so much from it.
I highly suggest that everyone reads this book. The value that you are able to consume at your very fingertips is almost overwhelming. I cannot express how much this book benefited me in such a short amount of time.
I found this book at quite the perfect time in my life when everything is changing and I have some big decisions to make. This book in a way inspired and comforted me more than anything else. It showed me that taking the back roads instead of the highway could quite possibly be one of the best decisions I have made.
Quotes From The Book
Some of the biggest things that stood out to me:
- Do not be afraid to challenge the status quo. Claim your career by taking a different path. It is a choice, not a gift.
- The safest thing you can do feels risky and the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe. Remember that being wrong is not fatal.
- Instead of pushing or managing, lead. Seek to give more than to get.
- Lead your tribe, not the majority. If you try to lead the majority you will end up leading no one in particular. Bigger is not always better.
- A good leader does not have things happen to them, they do things. They go after change and discomfort.
- More often than not a new thing is not as good as the old thing, but nothing lasts forever and the good will old will eventually turn bad.
- DO NOT SHEEPWALK. Sheepwalking = the outcome of hiring people who have been raised to be obedient and giving them brain dead jobs and enough fear to keep them in line.
- If Henry Ford listened we would have had better buggy whips, not cars. Do not back down when met with resistance.
- If your organization requires success before commitment it will never have either.
- Perfect is an illusion, one that was created to maintain the status quo.
Conclusion
In the end, the decision is yours, it is up to you if you want to read this book. It is up to you if you want to lead or follow. No decision is right or wrong they are all simply there. Do not steer away from what you want to do because it does not fit the status quo, keep your chin up and change the mountain, your tribe will follow you.