A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.


Human beings can’t help it: we need to belong. One of the most powerful of our survival mechanisms is to be part of a tribe, to contribute (and take from) a group of like-minded people.


Many consumers have decided to spend their money buying things that aren’t factory-produced commodities. And they’ve decided not to spend their time embracing off-the-shelf ideas. Consumers have decided, instead, to spend time and money on fashion, on stories, on things that matter, and on thing they believe in.


It’s good to be king. In fact, in a stable work, it’s great to be king. Lots of perks. Not a lot of hassle.

Kings have always worked to maintain stability because that’s the best way to stay king. They’ve traditionally surrounded themselves with a well-fed and well-paid court of supplicants, each of whom has a vested interest in keeping things as they are.

Corporations are traditionally built around the CEO, with all his perks and power. The closer you get to being king/CEO, the more influence and power you have. The goal of the corporation is to enrich the king and keep him in power.


Marketing is the act of telling stories about the things we make — stories that sell and stories that spread.


Some people admire the new and the stylish far more than they respect the proven state of affairs. And more often than not, these fad-focused early adopters are the people who buy and the people who talk.


Senator Bill Bradley defines a movement as having three elements:

  1. A narrative that tells a story about who we are and the future we’re trying to build
  2. A connection between and among the leader and the tribe
  3. Something to do — the fewer limits, the better

A crowd is a tribe without a leader. A crowd is a tribe without communication. Most organizations spend their time marketing to the crowd. Smart organizations assemble the tribe.


Is there a difference between average and mediocre? Not so much. Average stuff is taken for granted, not talked about, and certainly not sought out.


Factories are efficient. Starting a factory and filling it with factory workers is a good way to make a profit.


Part of us wants stability. We want the absence of responsibility that a factory job can give us.


The best idea doesn’t necessarily win. The idea that wins is the one with the most fearless heretic behind it.


The levers are here. The proof is here. The power is here. The only thing holding you back is your own fear.

Not easy to admit, but essential to understand.


In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. In other words, when you can do a great job, you get promoted. And that process repeats itself until finally you end up in a job you can’t handle.

I’d like to paraphrase it as “in every organization everyone rises to the level at which they become paralyzed with fear.”

The essence of leadership is being aware of your fear (and seeing it in the people you wish to lead). No, it won’t go away, but awareness is they key to making progress.


Nothing online is even close to a substitute for the hard work and generosity that comes from leadership.


Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. This scarcity makes leadership valuable.

In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers. To propose an idea that might fail. To challenge the status quo. To resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.


Groups create vacuums — small pockets where stasis sets in, where nothing is happening. Imagine a cocktail party in its early stages, where everyone is standing around, waiting for something to happen.

Leaders figure out how to step into those vacuums and create motion.


The one path that never works is the most common one: doing nothing at all.


Curious is the key word. It has nothing to do with income, nothing to do with education. It has to do with a desire to understand, a desire to try, a desire to push whatever envelope is interesting.


No one goes there anymore; it’s too popular.


You’re not going to be able to grow your career or your business by going after most people. Most people are really good at ignoring new trends or big ideas.


Settling is no fun. It’s a malignant habit, a slippery slope that takes you to mediocrity. Managers settle all the time. They don’t really have a choice because there are too many competing priorities.

The art of leadership is understanding what you can’t compromise on.


Faith is the unstated component in the work of a leader and I think faith is underrated. Paradoxically, religion is vastly overrated.

Faith leads to hope, and it overcomes fear. Faith is the dividing line between humans and most other species.


The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest is to respond. The hardest thing is to initiate.


Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.

There can’t be any more deep technology in Facebook than what dozens of people could write in a couple of years.


And graduate school? Because the stakes are higher (opportunity, cost, tuition, and the job market), students fall back on what they’ve been taught: to be sheep. Well-educated sheep, of course, but compliant nonetheless.


It’s rare that it’s obvious when to lead. Sure, there are times when you know you need to stand up, take a position, spread an idea, clear out an obstacle, and be brave.

But more often than not, great leadership happens when the tribe least expects it. The non-obvious moments are the ones that count. Like now, perhaps.


Because, of course, it has nothing to do with knowing how the trick is done, and everything to do with the art of doing it. The tactics of leadership are easy. The art is the difficult part.

Magic only happens in a spectator’s mind. Everything else is a distraction. Methods for the own sake is a distraction. You cannot cross over into the world of magic until you put everything else aside and behind you — including your own desires and needs — and focus on bringing an experience to the audience. This is magic. Nothing else.

Substitute “leadership” for “magic” and there you are.


Being charismatic doesn’t make you a leader. Being a leader makes you charismatic.


People don’t believe what you tell them. They rarely believe what you show them. They often believe what their friends tell them. They always believe what they tell themselves.