I was talking the other day with longtime Washington Post Editor Richard Prince, and we wondered what had happened with a mutual colleague in regard to a particular media group. Our mutual colleague "John" had expressed some disappointment in the group, because members were not understanding what he was about and he therefore decided to take a few steps back, removing himself of a leadership position within the minority journalism community.
My talk with Richard got me thinking broadly about the whole notion of "Tribes." It's the title of one of my favorite books, authored by one of my favorite bloggers, Seth Godin. When it seems every day, someone is expressing some form of outrage about something, I wonder which is the best tactic for finding and keeping your job. Should you join a tribe? Every office has several, and the politics can get really deep. Or, if you work independently, which tribes should you join?
If I look at my donations to non-profit media related tribes, I belong to eight of them. Yes, that's correct, eight different tribes. Each with an expressed purpose, (ex: ONA, NABJ, AAJA and RTDNA), with goals to help members become greater media professionals, and each offers variations of a general theme. Why do I belong to so many? Because my professional business model and personal brand requires that I work hard to work across and within, cultures. I've always wanted to know how others lives. They can be any color, speak any language, live any place. I lived in Chile three times on fellowships, and I grew up in a place quite different from where I live now. And if you follow me, I'm always on a plane going someplace. That's why I became a journalist. I'm nosy, (some call it "curiosity"), and I seem to fit into more than a few tribes because I know why I'm there.
Our mutual friend John is mightily involved in a few tribes as well, and getting him to return to one in particular might require a heavy does of guilt tripping. Or, it might not work. Still, I think I should talk to him about why and what to offer as opposed to not trying at all.
He is ahead of the curve in many aspects of journalism, media and technology but John withdrew because of a feeling that no one within the tribe was listening. I told Richard I'm quite familiar with that feeling, but the larger the tribe, the more you need to focus on what you bring to it. After that conversation, I offered to reach out to John because I think while a skill set might not be the right match in one place doesn't mean they aren't perfectly aligned in another way.
There is always a seat at the table for people like that.
*Chantal de la Rionda edits this blog
