5 Reasons Why Finding Your Work Tribe Is Essential for Your Career (2022)
As an organisational development practitioner and coach, I often hear from people who lack a social network in the workplace, that ‘safe space’ – imagine a time when you’re sitting around a table with close friends. Sharing stories, uplifting and supporting one another, helping each other out in a crisis and having a good laugh. Makes you feel great doesn’t it? It’s the same in the workplace – your work tribe is essential and here’s why.
When you’re feeling isolated, unsupported, stressed, on the verge of burnout and out of energy in the workplace, then it might be because you haven’t given consideration to your ‘work tribe’.
What Research Says
The definition of ‘tribe’ in anthropology, as described by the Wikipedia, is a human social group of people.
Although leadership comes with many rewards, it can also be very lonely, which can lead to feelings of isolation, stress, fatigue and burnout.
Secure attachment is a basic human need from an early age and many of us possess an intrinsic tribal mentality inherited from our ancestors. Safety in numbers provided protection from danger, and pooled resources assisted in times of scarcity, while shared knowledge increased the chance of survival.
5 Reasons Why You Should Seek Out Your Tribe
1. Your tribe members are people who accept you just as you are. They support you through difficult times, provide you with a sense of community and belonging.
2. When things get tough in the workplace, it is comforting to know that you are not alone and that your experiences are shared by others too. When you are not alone, your tribe is your greatest source of comfort.
3. Your tribe will celebrate your wins with you and cheer you on to achieve your potential and more importantly your tribe will provide comfort in your loses, by giving you the courage to keep being the best version of yourself.
4. Your tribe will help you when you get those feelings of ‘imposter syndrome’ that can often erode your confidence and resilience by listening, asking supportive questions and most importantly not trying to ‘fix’ you.
5. It is well documented that when you are part of a supportive mechanism, you will experience less stress and enhanced resilience levels.
3 Essentials to Being a Great Tribe Member
1. Understand yourself - you cannot ‘find your tribe’ without first finding yourself. The reason for this is, that by taking some time to think about your own values, attitudes and personality traits will ensure that when you reach out to others, they are perfectly selected because they mirror what is important to you – there is a lot of research that indicates that we are hard wired to seek out like minded people.
You can read more about this here: Study finds our desire for 'like-minded others' is hard-wired | The University of Kansas (ku.edu) and study by Adam Hampton, Amanda Fisher Boyd, and Susan Sprecher, published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
Think about what you want from your tribe, one of those things may well be authenticity and in order to be loyal to your tribe, you must first be loyal to yourself.
According to author and research professor Brené Brown, you will never truly belong until you belong to yourself. “True belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world. Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our sense of self-acceptance.”
2. Develop emotional intelligence - it’s essential you are able to emotionally support your tribe members when they need your support. Understanding your relationship with yourself, how your emotions ebb and flow through the day are essential to growing levels of self-awareness. Then cultivate the same with your relationships with other, understanding, empathising, recognising the emotional states of others.
You can do this by developing a practice of self-reflection, and mindfulness. Gaining an understanding of mindful compassion for self and others is an essential part of being part of a tribe.
3. Exploring Your Biases (Unconscious or Conscious) - when you are connected with a group of like minded people, developing the ability to convey to others what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear is essential. However, this requires you to first examine your biases, so that when you impart your knowledge or experience, you do so from a measured place. Practice the state of remaining non-judgmental in your interactions and avoid bringing in thoughts and emotions from your own past experiences, instead have a growth mindset approach to your interactions.
Final Thoughts
Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” A few years before I made the move to San Francisco, I founded Athena Leadership, a forum of connection with likeminded people driven by similar values. I thought, “This is my tribe.”
Finding your tribe is a journey in itself, sometimes it will take you to places and situations that require you to be vulnerable and uncomfortable. If your tribe is right, you will feel safe and supported. If you feel otherwise, then there is no reason you cannot look elsewhere. Just be assured that when you find your tribe, you will be set up with longstanding, supportive relationships and bring great value to you and others.