The Sixth Sense

Why you should be partisan

I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s new book ‘Tribes’ recently and this section really jumped out at me this morning:

“Partisans. It’s a criticism when you throw that word at a politician, but all tribes are made up of partisans, the more partisan the better. If you’re a middle-of-the-roader, you don’t bother joining a tribe.

Partisans want to make a difference. Partisans want something to happen (and something else not to happen). Leaders lead when they take positions, when they connect with their tribes, and when they help the tribe connect to itself.”

It really connected with something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I come across so many people who are what I call ’sideline people’. People who never properly get involved with anything and instead spend endless amounts of time criticising those who do. (Or, at the very least, creating limitless reasons for not committing.)

To be honest, I don’t have much patience for these people. It is so easy to watch others actually trying to do something (and, sure, often failing) and say where they went wrong, what they should have done. And yet, for all their saying what others should have done, they themselves never do anything. They play it safe. They sit on the sidelines feeling superior.

And the truth is, it’s their loss. They’re missing out on actually living a life of significance. They do nothing. Nothing. Oh, other than criticise and develop their ‘gift’ of cynicism. What a waste of life.

I’d rather be a partisan at least trying to work with others to make the world a better place than a sideline critic who thinks they know everything.

Of course, the reason these people don’t ‘join a tribe’ and commit to anything is because it’s not perfect. It’s not quite how they’d like things. But there will NEVER be a perfect tribe. There are no perfect businesses, charities, churches, organisations, or clubs. So do we want to waste a lifetime waiting for something to emerge that in fact never will? Or will we accept that, despite it’s imperfections, there is a tribe we should just get on board with and do something?

People who actually change the world are people who are partisan. People who, despite all it’s imperfections, are willing to say, ‘this is MY tribe’.

Tags: Partisanship, Seth Godin, tribes

Inclusive vs. Exclusive

Yesterday I got an exclusive invitation to be part of an online tribe at www.triiibes.com. It’s tied in with something Seth Godin is heading up linked with his forthcoming book entitled ‘Tribes: We need you to lead us‘.

This got me thinking about organisations that are inclusive and others that are more exclusive. I guess, to be fair, I’ve veered towards being anti anything exclusive.

This stems from my frustration with churches in particular which seem to take pleasure in keeping people out rather than welcoming them in. Not all churches, but more more than it should be.

Tied in with this, as Mosaic here in Sheffield, we have often talked about the need to be an inclusive community. We don’t want to exclude people. We want to be welcoming, no matter who the person is.

But then yesterday, a big part of the draw to accept this invitation to www.triiibes.com was the very fact that is was exclusive. That was a big part of its appeal. In fact, if it was just an open group, I’m not sure that I’d of been that bothered about it.

What does this tell us though? Does the very nature of the role and function of a church or charitable organisation make this a totally different issue than for businesses? Or is the same?

Is exclusive always bad? Could charities and faith based organisations leverage exclusivity to attract proactive, highly involved people to work them? 

I’m still trying to get my head around this. What do you think?

Tags: Leadership, tribes