Humans have an inherent desire to belong somewhere. Outside of our immediate family of origin, we all begin to establish our unique interests and beliefs. We seek to align ourselves with like-minded people or the types of people we aspire to be by joining various groups, communities, or simply, “tribes.”
We want to feel understood and appreciated for who we are and what we value starting from a fairly early age. Examples of this include sports teams, churches, fraternities and sororities, gyms, online communities, book clubs, and yes, even our place of work. Our colleagues are who we spend much (if not most) of our time with, so it makes sense that on some level, we’re drawn to companies powered by people who we want to connect with beyond a superficial level.
This comes back to the importance of trust and Core Values. As a founder, you can create a culture of trust by carefully selecting the Core Values that matter most to your company and Vision. Those values will attract like-minded people to your organization, which is how you form (and grow) your workplace tribe.
PERSPECTIVES
“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” — Margaret J. Wheatley
“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” ― Jane Howard
MARK MY WORDS
The groups and people we tend to gravitate toward, professionally and otherwise, are based on a variety of factors. These include:
Shared values (beliefs, behaviors, norms)
Common interests
Complementary competencies (what we bring to the table and vice versa)
Shared goals, Vision, and purpose
With this in mind, founders can better establish their company’s Core Values and set about bringing the right people into their organizations. Think about it: If you hire a team that isn’t aligned on the above bullet points (more on those in the blog, by the way), it’s going to be hard for them to find common ground or develop trust-based relationships. When this happens, conflict becomes abundant, and your company culture will suffer for it. A more intentional, thoughtful recruitment process can help you make smarter hiring decisions that result in a strong, secure, and talented workplace tribe.
Most of us know how great it feels to work with colleagues whose knowledge and skills complement our own. As founders, it’s up to us to curate that experience for our team members. By working together in this way, we can make things faster, easier, better, bigger, and more valuable, resulting in a culture where members of the tribe have mutual trust in one another.
Remember that as humans, we generally belong to several tribes at any given moment. Our families, friends, hobbies, and worldviews lead us to finding and aligning with different groups of people over the course of our lives. Our workplace tribe is just one of these groups — but it’s my belief that it’s a pretty bloody important one. My advice is to get crystal clear on your Vision. It will serve as a steadfast beacon for the right kinds of people your company’s tribe needs to thrive.
TUNE IN
Alignment can’t happen amid chaos. In this episode, I’m covering the need for clear, documented processes to ensure that everyone in the organization is on the same page — enabling your company to improve its overall efficiency and trust throughout teams.
