Tribal Leadership (Part 3)

June 26, 2013

Tribal Leadership:  Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by David Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright.

The authors of Tribal Leadership tell us that 49% of American professionals operate at Stage Three: “I am Great (and you are not),” which is akin to “I Win and I hope that you win too” (Level Three of Energy Leadership).

Tribal Leadership Stage Three and Energy Leadership Level Three bring us to an inflection point in the life of an organization. You can actually survive, and potentially thrive, at this level. Energy begins the process of transforming from catabolic (negative) to anabolic (positive). The Energy Leadership Think-Feel-Act model is Responsibility-Forgiveness-Cooperation. The people and the organization seem to have a higher purpose. There is a feeling of inclusiveness. But just below the surface you will find that influence is more manipulative and self-dealing (“I win” is always first and “I hope you win too” is always relegated to a distant second.)

Stage/Level Three people not only want to win, but they want to win at nearly any cost. If you aren’t part of their winning equation, then you get thrown under the bus.

For an organization to truly become significant, you have to move beyond this sort of Stage/Level Three competition. You have to instill the importance of team commitment and success in the highly compensated, smart, and driven individuals at this level.

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