<em>This is the fifth part of a series on the origins of the Lead Change Group based on one of the key books that inspired me to take action: <a title="Tribes at Amazon.com" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591842336/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1591842336&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=elevate-20">Tribes by Seth Godin</a>. For links to all the posts, check out this page.</em>

On page 65 in Tribes, Godin has a section titled The Plurality Myth that's about the idea that you need to a plurality or a majority to make something happen. Godin point out that with the exception of elections, the idea that we must build a plurality is a wrong idea.
<blockquote>"Starbucks doesn't serve coffee to the majority of the people in the United States. The New York City Crochet Guild appeals to just a small percentage of the people who encounter it. That's okay. You don't need a plurality or even a majority. In fact, in nearly every case, trying to lead everyone results in leading no one in particular.

"This leads to an interesting thought: you get to choose the tribe you will lead."</blockquote>
My first management assignment was as general manager of a trucking company branch office. We had to start it fast because we moved some existing business to a different geographic location. So we hired quickly. I had no training other than what I had seen other small company managers do. I had never had any formal leadership training.

Instantly, people started complaining. I wasn't doing everything to suit them. After a couple of weeks chasing my tail and trying to please a variety of people and keep the peace, a thought occurred to me. "I'm probably not going to suit everyone. It's not possible. And if that's the case, I better decide up front who will get top priority."

I chose to build a business where responsible, hard-working people liked to work. If you would rather be doing something other than a great job, you probably weren't going to like working for me. And while I hope to be liked by everyone, I especially wanted to be liked by those people who took responsibility for their lives and made sure they gave a good day's work for a good day's pay.  If the others liked it, fine.  But they weren't my core focus because we had a job to do.

Once you decide who you are not going to serve, you are free of tyranny. Early in Lead Change there was a lot of doubt and a ton of uncertainty.  But I tried to keep my focus on mobilizing <a title="Posts on character-based leadership" href="/tag/character-based-leadership/">character-based leaders</a> to make a positive difference.  So if that's your focus and you are willing to do your own work, I want Lead Change to help. I wanted to create an "us" where people were all moving forward in their own way, solving the problem of impersonal, behavior-based leadership. My goal was to see if there was anyone else in the world who thought that it would be cool to be part of a community of people who were promoting a change in leadership.

Do you want to make a dent in the leadership universe? We believe <em>your</em> best <em>you</em> can change <em>your</em> world. We can't do that for you. But we can encourage and share and help one another as we each try to apply character-based leadership to make a positive difference. My hope is that this community will help you. But you're going to do most of the work. No one will change the world for you.

Join us?