You = Leader

I've just finished reading Seth Godin's book  Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, and I recommend that you run immediately to your local bookstore and purchase it now.   And then read it.  And then act.

Here's why: somewhere, something needs you to lead it.  Yes, YOU.  You may not know this already, or perhaps you do; but Godin's suggesting that we each have a choice to step up into our leadership.

Human beings for millions of years have self-organized into tribes.  A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.  What's usually missing is a leader.

And, that's where you come in.

What I know – from my coaching and leading experience -  is that people are looking for connection, for purpose, for a sense of why they are here on this earth.  In looking for connection, we organize into communities of meaning.  What "matters" is different for every one of these communities  (knitting, fitness, LEGOs, politics…) — examples abound of how these groups are self-organizing on the internet.

Whether organized in cyberspace or in your local coffee shop, these communities of meaning are dying for a leader – someone willing to innovate, challenge the status quo, have a vision, make a choice – for the sake of the shared interest of the group.

These groups – or tribes – need leaders with passion, curiosity, charisma, vision, inclusion, communication and commitment to lead their movement – big or small – in order to make a difference.

All it takes is a decision for you to step up, to say yes, to step across the threshhold into the unknown of leadership.

Will you?

We need you.