“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe -- a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
Expert marketer, best-selling author and speaker,
Seth Godin
So, why should you be the leader of your own tribe?
How important is it to your bookkeeping business?
Our co-founder, Debbie Roberts will fill in the blanks:
One of the benefits of participating in programs/groups that are run by bookkeepers for bookkeepers is so you can benefit from their experience, so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
I recently joined Bookkeepers Support Group Australia on Facebook which was initiated by a bookkeeper for bookkeepers. Kelly Berger, who works from home around her kids, started the group because she had no one to bounce ideas off, have a place to go to for help and encouragement or to have a complain session about a client without feeling judged.
What I think is amazing is in just 4 months the Bookkeepers Support Group has grown from 1 to over 300 and growing strong.
Kelly’s building a healthy tribe.
To nurture her tribe, Kelly, has established a few rules, primarily around confidentiality and respect, with the aim to have everyone who visits the site and contributes feel valued, respected and heard.
She has demonstrated her leadership qualities by creating an environment where bookkeepers, with a shared interest, have a way to communicate.
By exchanging ideas and best practices within your bookkeeping tribe, you can learn from others mistakes and collect practical tips that can allow your business to be more profitable.
If you’re wondering how to create your own powerful tribe, here are 10 steps courtesy of author and Huffington Post contributor, Bernadette Noll.
1) Start small and stay small. Add too many people and you won't feel obliged to show up because you'll feel you won't be missed if you're not there.
Though it feels strange to keep it tight, if you open it too big, it won't be sustainable. This isn't a play group. This is a think tank. So, more isn't necessarily merrier. This might be the hardest part to explain to people, but truly, the thing we all think has kept it going all these years.
2) When forming your group, find a couple of people you care about and ask them each to find one more person.
This creates an immediate circle of individuals who will probably get along and who most likely will start off with a shared mindset
3) Find a common thread and work from there.
Besides bookkeeping, maybe you're all mamas or artists or marathon runners or inventors or some such. A common ground is a great starting point.
4) Start with a clear intention and a shared desire -- a writing workshop, an entrepreneurial guide, a retreat, etc.
And start off with something you pay for which will make you more likely to commit fully to it.
Somehow when we pay, we feel more committed to show up. Like it has more value somehow.
5) Keep it purposeful.
The social aspect is fun and, of course, crucial to it continuing year after year, but the commitment to a book or writing exercises or something definitively productive makes it more likely that you will show up fully and regularly.
6) Make a regular meeting time.
Rather than having to discuss it each week or each month, make it the same -- Tuesday nights or First Thursday or something to give it it's rightful place.
7) Find a sustainable time slot.
Something that won't be easily pre-empted by some other meeting or commitment or family need. For us it was Tuesday nights at 9:15 p.m..
Since we all had little children at the time and full plates otherwise, we knew this time slot was one we could make available week after week after week.
8) Once you've formed and your group has been going a while, hire someone every now and again to bring you to the next level -- when the group needs a bump up, hire out to reignite the commitment.
9) Name it.
By naming it, you can call it by its name and by calling it you are acknowledging it's powerful existence. And giving your family something to call it too that feels more powerful than just, "Mom's group of women."
We call ours Goodness. Because that's what it is to us: pure, unadulterated goodness.
10) Ask your family for support and encouragement in making it work.
Even your kids.
Ask them to give you the space and ask them too to help you get yourself out the door so you can meet up regularly. If they moan or beg you to stay, remind them of all you get from it, which in turn will mean they, too, will get something from it.
To form your tribe, you can use websites such as Facebook.com and Meetup.com to get started.
In fact, if you’re already on Facebook and would like to create a group, here’s how:
1) From your home page, go to the Groups section on the left side menu and click Create Group.
2) Click + Create New Group at the top of the page. A window will appear, where you'll be able to add a group name, add members and select the privacy settings for your group. Click Create when you're done.
3) Once the group is created, you'll be taken to the group. To get started, click at the top right of the group and select Edit Group Settings. From here you can add a group description, tags, set a group email address and add a group picture.
Don’t be shy.
Create your own tribe today.
It’s a decision you won’t regret.
To your success,
Michael
