We hear the word tribe a lot now don’t we? Find your tribe, find your people. In a world where we can connect with almost anyone, anywhere, it’s a reminder to focus on what and who are important to you and set some boundaries against all the noise.
We also don’t have to look very far in the world to see what happens when the desire to build a tribe can become not only negative, but completely destructive. And when things get tough for people, more and more polarisation can come about as people look for the ‘other’ to blame.
The easiest way for me to be right, is to make you wrong.
I am an advocate of tribes and why not? It’s one of our primal human needs to want to find a sense of belonging with others and then protect it at all costs.
It’s now become an important aspect of today’s workplace culture and high performing teams – one that is often overlooked or at best, with a bit of luck, creates itself organically for a period of time until the dynamic shifts once again with the onset of another change.
What is also important, however, is for each tribe to keep the communication channels open with other tribes across the wider system. Instead of casting blame and sowing the seeds of doubt about the ‘other’, good practice is to work to embrace differences and seek to learn from each other.
As with my recent trip to the Ramgarhia Gurdwara, despite my fears, I learned that there is much more that binds us together than that which separates and divides us.
Could you start a conversation with a member of a different ‘tribe’ this week – whatever that may mean to you.
Practice listening over talking – seek first to understand, then to be understood. Ask about their experiences, what issues concern them and get curious and courageous, thinking about the one thing that you have always wanted to know from the ‘other side’. Be ready to share back in return and reflect later on how the exchange has made you feel.
I guarantee it will tell you something important about yourself and all the changes that are afoot in business and the wider world.
