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Why Leaders Need To Master Tribal Signals
Pundits often encourage us to find our tribe, but that has its downsides. Tribal thinking can make us suspicious of outsiders and can lead us to ignore new information and evidence that challenges our existing beliefs and paradigms. Sure, there is safety in sticking with our tribe, but we are unlikely to learn anything new.
Experimental evidence has long shown we are hardwired to be distrustful of others we see as different than ourselves. In a study of adults that were randomly assigned to “leopards” and “tigers,” fMRI studies noted hostility to out-group members. Similar results were found in a study involving five year-old children and even in infants.
Yet in his new book, Tribal, behavioral psychologist Michael Morris suggests a more hopeful view. He points to three tribal instincts — the peer instinct, the hero instinct and the ancestor instinct — that leaders can leverage to pursue common purpose. We can expand our tribe beyond simple conflicts of “us and them,” to forge bonds and move forward as “we together.”
The Peer Instinct
Humans have many disadvantages over other animals. We’re not strong or fast, we can’t fly or swim and don’t have highly attuned senses for sight or smell. Our superpower — and it is the most powerful one that nature has ever devised — is collective…
