Tribal Business School

"What is interesting in Jo’s book is how he shows that the challenges of leadership are so similar even if they are set in diverse contexts. I think it is a good example of how people who think of themselves as leaders in countries like Britain, and think they have very stressful lives, need to understand that it is much tougher for many leaders in other parts of the world. If you take the example of some tribal leaders, in many situations leadership decisions for them really are a matter of life or death. Within these tribes, if the leaders fail then their family and the tribe could die of starvation. So I think this is an extreme reminder, when you lead an organisation, that there are more difficult forms of leadership out there than we have to deal with. One of the lessons I took from the book which might surprise people is that there is no universal leadership model. People look for the perfect leader but there is no such thing. I think the right leader is right for his or her context. So someone who can lead a tribe in the deserts of Africa would not be successful leading the same tribe in the snows of northern Norway. Everyone has to find their own leadership model and adapt it to their context. But the one quality that I think does unite all leaders is the importance of strong values, which is discussed in all my book choices. All the successful leaders in the different tribes build strong values within their tribes. Another lesson that I took was that the best leaders avoid direct conflict if there is another way to achieve their goals. Then, if you do need to fight, make sure you have as much of an unfair advantage as possible. Yes, and one way to do that is to create an esprit de corps and really strong values within the group."