Building a Tribe To Support Your Business

As we evolve as companies and executives, we recognize how the social elements of life become part of how we do business. We've all heard of tribes; those movements oriented socially active and vocal groups that take a stand. Today, many companies refer to their mailing list as their tribe.

This is something unique. It's actually more like the naturally evolving group around a cause that we know are tribes. But it's different because you can create your own tribe that will pay you to be a member and supports your company.

For the sake of clarification, I am going to use the term "PowerTribe" to differentiate a generic tribe that evolves out of a mission through a leader with a social motive or cause to pursue. A PowerTribe has all the same characteristics of a tribe, but it's formed deliberately by a company to support those members who pay to join. The example I will use is for certification or licensing programs but it could be for any other commercial use. 

In order to do this, you need to create a group with a particular set of group dynamics. In effect, you are creating a new social structure but how you create that group will determine if you succeed or fail. No other element of what I am about to share with you is more important than understanding the long-term impact this group can have on your company. 

A PowerTribe is a fully paid, fully monetized, certified coaching or consulting network made up of independent people (starting with your own clients) who are interested in purchasing Certification for several reasons:

•  They want to be the highly proficient in what you teach or the service you perform.

•  They want to use their certification to earn more money, prestige, and influence.

•  They want to become part of a community of supporting, caring professionals who have common goals and interest.

•  They are usually risk-averse and want to start with a working system that has a high chance of success if implemented and followed to the letter.

•  They may be part of a company who needs this service, and that company invests in certification for an employee who then is designated as the in-house expert that can advance the company’s goals and objectives with that material. 

In essence, there are three types of people whom we observe show up to become a member of our PowerTribes.

1.  They want certification to be the best at what they do; this is who they are.

2.  They want to earn more money with a proven program.

3.  They want to be part of a community and seek involvement in a high-level group. 

Our goal in building a paid tribe like a certification program is to appeal to all three.

I am going to tell you how you can build your PowerTribe, far more efficiently than I did in 1989 while adding several NEW revenue streams at the same time.

But before we get to the mechanics of what specific tools to use, you need to understand how this all weaves into the fabric of social structure and business. 

The Real Genesis of a Tribe.

In Seth Godin’s book, Tribes, he makes some compelling observations. I want to quote him here so we can set the stage for our next discussion.

 “A Tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.” 

The “idea” or process is the most important thing, and the Tribe Leader is responsible for showing people how to create the same effect as the leader. 

So, how does this apply to what we are doing with our PowerTribe?

Let’s see if what we are doing fits into the concept of a tribe. Using the formula, Seth constructed above; we will test our idea and see if it’s a fit:

We want to form a group of people (who will become Certified Consultants) who are connected to each other, (through Facebook groups, and other electronic methods) connected to a leader (you and your company) and connected to an idea. 

In this case, the idea is the freedom to thrive in your own business.

They can be free to use their knowledge and passion to help others, make money and advance their lives. The eventual goal is to earn a full-time living or be financially free-- and, ultimately, to be part of something bigger that’s purposeful, as well as contributes to the lives of others.

The Tribes that Seth discusses in his book are all about creating passion around an important social cause or movement, alongside a polarized group of opinionated people whom all feel the same way.

When we deliberately set out to build our PowerTribe, we start by attracting the top 5% of our client base who are already using our products, technology or services at the highest level of proficiency, they already love you, your product and your company along with what you stand for.

They are the ones who will be most attracted to what we are about to offer. Note: They don’t always have to be from your existing clients or customers; eventually, you will attract people outside your immediate circle, but for the first several waves of applicants, it’s best to build your base with existing clients. 

As I mentioned above, a small percentage of your applicants who want to become a Certified Coach or Consultant, will be more interested in becoming experts and never have any intention to offer their services to clients. 

Another example of people who will join your program are people who are sponsored by their host company to take the training and use it for internal support of existing staff. 

The majority of applicants have a clear business objective, and they enter into the program with the primary goal: to better themselves, to closely align with a higher purpose and to follow the lead of those who are already doing it. After joining, they enjoy becoming part of the community and build bonds with those already there. 

As we will soon realize, it’s our job as leader of our PowerTribe to make sure we accommodate and facilitate team and community building with strong group communications systems.  

What about an additional “test” to see if we are really building a tribe?

From Seth Godin’s book "Tribes": 

1.  "The effectiveness of the tribe can be measured by how it transforms a shared interest in a passionate goal, and desire to change themselves and the world.

2.  The Leader provides tools to members who create and then tighten communications

3.  Leadership then leverages the tribe to allow it to grow and gain new members."

Let’s once again see if we pass the test.

1.  We are transforming several shared interests into passionate goals, which support both their self-improvement, and the way business operates more efficiently.

2.  As mentioned above, we create a very rich community environment for our Certified Consultants to share tips, tricks and become better acquainted.

3.  This is where we excel as a tribe. We leverage the power of the tribe by helping our Certified Consultants generate income, create their own client relationships, and attract more members as the success of our tribe grows.

I think we passed. Why am I taking you through this process?

Because, if I can show you that you are building a real tribe of human souls, then you will soon see how we can further leverage the psychological power of our natural desire to join and be part of a group that supports us individually. 

For most people, being part of a group that leads members to where they want to be while creating a profound and meaningful support experience is rare. 

If that same group nurtures new members while creates bonds that normal companies can’t accomplish even with their own employees, then you will have created something more valuable than any product or service. This tribe will likely endure beyond the confines of this one company. 

Even beyond making money, the collective genius can be used to help individual members as in a mastermind experience. If every member is focused on the same overall goals as the sponsoring company, then they will have a deep feeling of belonging beyond any business arrangement or paid experience. 

You as the CEO determine exaclty what you want from your PowerTribe. By being involved, by communicating regularly and by encouraging, rewarding and recognizing your members, your group will love you and your company.

This is what we must accomplish if we want our group to thrive. In my own experience, several of the Certified Consultants who joined my Timeslips Certified Consultant Program throughout the late 1980’s are still in touch with me. 

Creating the Community.

As I’ve illustrated above, a group that is isolated from each other and the company is bound to fail. If the group is placed in an adversarial position to the company, it will fail.

As the CEO of a company, you may be concerned having an open group where people can express grievances. I had discovered that despite our concerns, with the right CULTURE installed correctly, the group is self-correcting. 

Here’s what happens when you get a group of people together all dedicated to a common mission; 

They Help Each Other!

Key point: they will collectively support the company that sponsored them, as long as the company is coming from the right place and has proven they will sustain and protect the group. 

Community leaders will start to emerge; specific niche players will start to show up and identify themselves as the leaders they naturally are. Others who want to help your company with their own services will show up as well.

When this starts to happen, you are watching your community beginning to gel into a cohesive group, which has an attraction factor of its own. 

Sooner or later, you are going to be presented with “the test” and if you fail, you will lose the respect of your members and could signal the decline of morale and enthusiasm in the group.

Here’s The Test.

Someone will emerge as a “bad seed” and start to bad mouth; other members, the company, and the founders. They may even try to gain support from other group members around their grievances. 

If you let that happen, if you don’t act quickly to cut them from the group or handle this diplomatically and with decisive action, you are dead meat; you’ve failed the test.

Everyone will be watching to see what you do. You will be telegraphing to the rest of the tribe what they can expect in the future, how much leeway they may have should they create a problem or exactly what will happen when the next person acts up. 

You must be decisive; you must act with courage and with grace. Your goal is NOT to embarrass the individual or hurt them in any way; it’s to get them under control quickly.

AS an example, we had one very intelligent man who had joined our program and had many suggestions for improving our software, which we welcomed and acknowledged. He complained about everything. Nothing was good enough for him; no one should enjoy the program if he didn’t, and he made that clear. 

Then at a public event, he stood up and told me what he wanted me to do with the program and how it should be run. In this public forum with several hundred CCs in the room, I responded with respect but firmly. I said that I didn’t think this program was a fit for him anymore and I invited him to leave. 

He was shocked! His “self-importance” was so high he never dreamed I would let him go. but I did, I drew the line, firmly and publically. I became quiet as I waited for his answer. He simply waved his hand like “oh, get outta here” and sat down smiling.

Confrontation over. And from then on, when he spoke about how bad everything was, other CCs now echoed my words, “Maybe the program just isn’t for you” and they laughed. 

Eventually, I had to call him privately and let him know that we would not renew his certification and he was angry. I spent time explaining why and he called me a dictator. Yes, I explained; It’s my program, and I run it for the good of everyone involved, but I set the rules, and he wasn’t interested in following them. And so we parted, professionally, decisively and with respect for the contribution he made.

The other members watched carefully how I handled it, they now knew where the boundaries were drawn, it made it easy to understand what was expected and what wasn’t.

Now let’s deal with the opposite issue. Someone does something exceptionally well, and the company doesn’t notice. 

Here again, we need decisive action to recognize the individual and call them front and center to be seen and appreciated. The effect of this one action can generate dozens of similar positive actions over the course of the next year. Other members will seek to do something exceptional just to be noticed, loved and appreciated.

This is one part of building a culture deliberately is all about. 

Your culture dictates how your CCs will act and react. When you don’t have a culture, you leave everything to chance and end up with entropy. Entropy is defined simplistically as chaos, disorganization, and randomness.

That’s NOT a good thing. Instead, we want our culture to feel safe, structured and very well balanced.

If we substitute the word “family” instead of culture, it may make more sense. A family has a mom and a dad: leaders of the family. So does a company; there’s the management team. A family has rules; a family has events, and a family supports each other even when things are not going well. 

All of those same characteristics are very important when creating your Culture. The more clear and concise you are about what you want your culture to be, the better and safer people will feel. The better, clearer boundaries you set, the more comfortable your CC community members will feel. 

The more mom and dad pay attention to the kids, the better the kids will feel, in general. A great CC program has a strong leader, a well-defined code of ethics, an inclusive culture and a supportive one. 

It’s your job to create that culture, and if you do, you will have one of the most resilient groups of fans, friends and business partners in your industry.

A quick story about culture and the effect of a public action. 

Today, in most companies, when it’s someone’s birthday we get them a cake and call a short meeting in the conference room to celebrate. After the sugar rush wears off, everyone is back to his or her desks. What would happen if someone’s birthday were NOT celebrated the same way? That’s “judgment." That person will feel like no one likes him or her enough to have a birthday cake. Before long, that person will be resentful and angry. That’s a ripple in the matrix and can soon become a wave if not properly handled.

When I ran my Certified Consultant Program, we had one of our Consultants get sick, really sick. We knew this was happening and as a company, we stepped in to support her best that we could. What happened next was a big surprise; Other Certified Consultants stepped in and handled her clients, passing all the revenue back to her. They continued to do this for months until she recovered. That bond and show of good will were so energizing it led to bring the whole group much closer.

When you build your culture and your group deliberately, knowing the pitfalls and the potential accelerators, you will have an incredibly supportive network of people that in many ways surpass your own employees with regard to loyalty and service. 

This is a killer competitive advantage. I have done it wrong and paid the price, I have done it right and reaped the benefits, I can tell you from experience it is worth doing it right!

This “Culture Thing” I’ve been talking about is the secret sauce to success. Ignore this, and you will be sorry you did. If I hadn’t personally screwed this up myself and then had to repair it, I would never have realized the importance of this concept. Ignore this at your peril. 

Where Do You Get Your Culture From? 

You create it. I work directly with my clients to consciously create their culture, and over the years, I have developed tools to help do this. 

We start with the basic values of how we want to treat each other and our clients. We then move to defining what is right and wrong. Is it wrong to take the company’s intellectual property and copy it freely or populate your website with the company’s “stuff” and not get permission or worse – make it look like your own?

This means anticipating what could happen and what actually is likely to happen when you have 100 or several hundred people all outside the company as independent vendors to the company. 

Deliberately build your culture code, practice it, create a course all new applicants must take and ask them to sign a document that proves they understand what our culture is and how they must act.

If members graduate from your program and adhere to the culture, they will feel safe, feel enabled and be supported throughout the process. This is what we want, and we will take responsibility for making it so.

A culture code can be short or long, it can be stated in business terms or in the spirit of a family. Every new client I work with gets the “starter” kit, which is my own broad stroke culture statements I’ve used for many years. My clients also receive my complete culture course, which they record in their own voice.

Some of the issues you need to cover in your own culture document and training:

• Who owns the intellectual property? 
• What can be shared independently and what is considered confidential?
• To what extent can a member of your PowerTribe represent themselves with your brand, can they do interviews? Webinars? Advertise on Facebook?
• How does a member present themselves professionally, do they use your company name for credibility?
• How do they treat each other?
• What are the rules about competition? 
• What if they have staff, do they too have to be certified?
• What responsibilities does a member (in this case a Certified Consultant) have to (your) client?
• Can a Certified Consultant work with a client outside the company relationship?
• What happens if those “rules” are broken?
• Is there a “guarantee” on the work that Certified Consultants perform? Who resolves the issues created?

This is a small sample of the issues you need to address up front before you even begin creating your PowerTribe. Doing so will change their perspective in a powerful way. This type of document provides boundaries and those are welcome and needed in any thriving community or society. It also makes it clear what happens if there are problems and how they are handled.

As a successful business person, you know that boundaries are welcome in a healthy environment, they allow for freedom of expression and create archetypes that our PowerTribe members can aspire to. They also visibly indicate when someone is not performing within the cultural norms and need to be called out.

For example, is it OK for a new Certified Consultant to take your content and publish it on his or her own website? If you don’t make this clear up front, then it very well may happen. Then you have to fix it and that's a problem that may be bigger than you expected. Also, with a supportive, enriching culture, others in the community will spot that and tell the offender to fix it before you ever find out. That’s what I mean by self-correcting. 

There are so many other ways culture plays a role in the success of well-run programs that they become hard to name. When you start with your “Why” and build your culture from there, then much of what you say is an extension of what you’ve already shown yourself to represent. Even when specific deeds are not covered in the code, the spirit of your culture will point the way in the right direction. 

The best culture is one that is practically invisible yet allows for full self-expression and advancement. Use that as your guide when you build yours and it will be hard to make a mistake.

One other point I want to make: Once you complete your culture code, create a course in your learning management system that covers it and tests for comprehension. This way, there’s never an excuse when the inevitable mistake is made. If everyone must pass the quiz with a 100% grade, then you know they have received the message loud and clear. You are simply saying to your group that boundaries exist for your own protection and the protection of the tribe itself. 

The Systems and Structure to Support Your PowerTribe

Without question, you will need systems to encourage group participation and sharing. That system can be as simple as a closed Facebook group or a more powerful closed community application. At first, active mediation is recommended until someone in the group emerges as a leader and then others will surface as well. Then administration can be shared.

Next, you will need a place to post wins and accomplishments along with new courses and other free material that the company or the members may share. Finally, you may want to ensure that private messages can also be sent and received.

A good moderator will know what's going on and also know who isn't participating. This again proves to the group that your company cares enough to notice.

While a great system, structure, and processes are required, your leadership team and in many cases the CEO must be personally involved to show how important the tribe is to the company. With careful nurturing, lots of positive feedback and attention, your PowerTribe can richly benefit the members and the host company for many years to come.

You've just read a chapter from my upcoming book called: "PowerTribes"

Interested in building your own PowerTribe? Let's talk. Go to MyPowerTribe.com and click the "apply" button so we can talk about how I can serve you.

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