In his book “Tribal Leadership” Dave Logan outlines five basic types of tribe or culture that can be identified in any given working group. Each group is defined by its basic attitude to life and worldview, which are as follows (I’m paraphrasing):

1. Life sucks
2. My life sucks- this attitude is higher or better than level 1 because although it is pessimistic, it at least allows for the fact that, although my life may suck, at least life in general may afford the opportunity to improve the situation!
3. I’m great because you suck – At this level I feel good about myself because I can look at you and think “I’m better” , so it is kind of a classic top dog vs underdog situation
4. Were all great!- We have evolved beyond top dog underdog to the view that everyone’s life can be great, and I don’t need to be better than you to feel good about my life and my achievements 
5. Life is great!

So, you can basically measure a “tribal developmental line” using these five levels, where level one represents the lowest level and level 5 represents the tribal equivalent of enlightenment.

So, what level do you think you are at?

One of the interesting observations that DL makes is that even if your individual level is, say level 4, if you hang out in a tribal culture (say at work) that is level 2 or 3, then that can actually bring your level down an entire level. So if you are at level 4 your habitual tribal group can drag you down into a level 3 mentality.

Identify individuals and tribal groups that are at a higher level than you, and hang out with them! If hanging out with a lower group can take you down a level, then hanging out with groups of people that are at a higher level can drag you up. This is a way of positively leveraging on your relationship to the groups in your workplace, family life and social circle. I was listening to a series of interviews with KL on Tribal leadership at the time that we set up “Sanctuary on the Hill” and one of the ideas that I had for the Sanctuary was that it would be a place where people could come and experience at least the 4th and 5th levels of tribal culture (as outlined above) and therefore benefit as a result.

© Toby Ouvry 2010, you are welcome to use this article, but you MUST seek Toby’s permission first. Contact info@mentalfitnessnow.com