Leading The Way, Leading The Tribe, Leading The Market.

In his new book, Tribes. We Need You to Lead Us, Seth Godin makes the point that traditional barriers to leading a movement … a market … a “tribe” have been erased because of the Internet. Geography, cost, time are all non-factors because of the Internet’s capacity to connect us with a few or vast amount of people who have a similar passion, point of view or just something in common.

But, the Internet cannot provide leadership, that is still up to us as individuals.

The book is a quick, but powerful read exposing you to thinking about your own role as a leader and that the opportunity to lead is at your fingertips.

How we choose to use this power to lead our “tribes” will define our successes on many levels. Staying true to the mission of this blog, it is evident that marketing ROI can be tied directly to our ability to lead our tribes of customers.

Think about how you connect with your customers. I participated in a conference this past week and the term, “market leading” was discussed. It defines those that set the agenda, create the opinion and offer their tribe numerous opportunities to know more about them, their ideas and products without ever thinking about the potential return.

However, return will occur. That’s because information provided without a stated quid pro quo distinguishes you as a leading force. Your leadership will be recognized through your actions and your tribe will respond by participating with you in your cause.

As Godin says in the book, “if you think leadership is only for other people, you’re wrong. We need YOU to lead us.”