The American Tribe – Reborn

Everyone knows that humans cannot survive in the wild as individuals. Throughout time humans have survived by banding together in tribes for the common good. Successful leaders ruled for the benefit of all and his tribe expanded often without the need of warfare. Great leaders know that their position and power depend on those within the tribe. Even he cannot survive in the wild alone for long. They also knew that the more inclusive ones policy the greater the tribe became.

Tribes were, and are, required to protect the young who will be the tribe’s strength in the future, the elderly who hold the wisdom and traditions of the tribe, the weak and sick who will recover to be contributors to the tribe, and historically the women who nurture and care for all members of the tribe and make the tribe strong and powerful. When protection of the tribe was about size and might, it was the job of the men to lead and protect. It has long been known, however, that behind every great man was a great woman, and of course women have also and will ably lead many a tribe. The leader is NEVER alone.

Leaders who rule by force or exclusion often rise for a period of time, only to be trampled and destroyed often by their own people. Force may be necessary to grow an empire, but holding it together requires the subjects to believe that it is in their best interests to remain within the tribe. Kings have been beheaded and great empires reduced to City States because the leaders forgot the tribe.

Until around the end of the 19th century, the beginning of the industrial revolution, the tribe was important and the great leaders recognized this importance. Countries were generally small and even great empires permitted tribes, whether local historic groups or represented by nobility and their lands, to govern themselves so long as they paid appropriate tribute.

Companies were small. The leader knew each employee personally and recognized that his position was dependant on the success of the members of his small tribe of workers. They were part of the community. They realized the tribe reached beyond the borders of the company’s property. The leader of the tribe not only knew his workers personally, but he knew his suppliers and customers personally. They too were part of his tribe and he relied upon them and they upon him. And so humans became the most dominant species on earth.

In the last 120 years or so the reliance on the tribe has changed. Somewhere along the line the idea of the tribe has fallen away in favor of individuality. These concepts are referred to in the positive as “entrepreneurialism” and in the more negative as the “Captains of Industry” or “capitalists.”

Companies grew to the point where the members of the tribe became mere numbers on a ledger to the CEO at the top. The tribal leader began to believe, and perhaps has been encouraged to believe, that he no longer needed the tribe to survive. While this has been disproven over and over again throughout history, we somehow feel that America became great because of individual effort of a few great individuals.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Our tribe fought back the British tribe for independence. A whole host of men signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It took 11 years, until 1787, for many bright men to craft the US Constitution. We moved West gradually as a tribe, supporting one another all along the way. Individuals did not create or settle this great country. WE, the tribe of Americans, did that.

It took many years and many people to bring non-landowners, workers, women, Jews, those of other faiths, blacks, and our many immigrants into the tribe of Americans. We stand now as one of the most inclusive tribes in the history of our planet. We should be proud of that.

Barrack Obama is restoring the American Tribe. We are all dependant on one another. We are responsible to care for the young, the sick and the elderly. Corporations must recognize that failure is largely due to misunderstanding the strength of the tribe. Great leaders, Level 5 leaders as described in the wonderful book, Good to Great, understand the importance of the tribe and they are the ones who are thriving in today’s economy.

I hope that the President is able to continue to build upon what he has done to date. We must decide we are part of the American Tribe. CEOs must understand the importance of the tribe. Humans survive because they are part of a strong tribe. We cannot stand alone and succeed. Not for long. No one ever has.