revolution |ˌrevəˈloō sh ən a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organised, or in people’s ideas about it.
Increasing entrepreneurship + digital renaissance = revolution = clans
Entrepreneurship is on the rise and it’s borderless.
Did you know that there are nearly 400 million active entrepreneurs around the world and our ranks are swelling, increased by nearly 22% in 2011*?
In a recent Forbes article, The Rise of Global Entrepreneurs, Scott Harley wrote , “We’re part of the global entrepreneurial class, an identity that transgresses borders, nationalities and religion.”
We’re also soon to witness a digital renaissance played out on the world stage during the forthcoming US Presidential elections. As it is, we already carry our businesses in our pockets and connect to the world at whim.
This revolution of creativity and innovation unleashed onto a massively enabled Web, is a powder keg poised to ignite a powerful change in the way we must do business.
As Scott wrote further in the same article, “Entrepreneurs are a demographic, not a geographic, and their conspicuous creation is driving positive change in our world.”
The question then, is how to harness this exploding potential to grow our businesses and make a difference.
Clusters v clans
Humans like to cluster. The wider the global reach, the more we like to cluster. It’s in our genes. We’re made to congregate in small safe communities for whom we can keep each others’ backs. Our reptile and old mammalian brains ensure that we do. It’s what keeps us feeling safe and comfortable.
Any entrepreneur digitally enabled, can gather about them a cluster. But is that enough to supercharge their business?
Clusters are groups that lurk, but don’t contribute. They are connected but not engaged. By contrast clans are a group of people with a strong common interest, who are not only engaged but enrolled.
‘Tribes make our lives better and leading a tribe is the best life of all.‘ Seth Godin.
Business with purpose
An enrolled clan will both contribute to, and promote, your business for no reward other than to support a common purpose.
Seven Cee’s.
To succeed at building supportive clans, we need to work with in a framework, I call the Seven Cee’s, as detailed in my book Clans. Supercharge Your Business:
Clarity: You need clarity of purpose to embrace your ‘why’. This means you can clearly articulate why you do what you do.
Curiosity: You’ve been curious to explore and research online in-depth. You’ve learned and got to know who will support your purpose and how to enlist them and with whom you could collaborate.
Coherence: You’ve worked on a coherent plan which allows you to correctly position your purpose online; you the expert, your business or your industry niche.
Control: You’re completely in control of all your online spaces. You own and manage them entirely.
Communication: Your ‘voice’ is clear and authentic. You communicate with passion and purpose. You’re generous in sharing valuable information. You’re a story-teller.
Connections: This make meaningful connections. Your stories articulate your shared purpose which connect with and engage others.
Collaboration: When you find your clan members, you collaborate and partner with them. You align them to, and enrol them in, a common purpose. This earns you the right to have a different conversation.
It’s the conversation we must have, if we’re not to languish in a business wilderness behind the next digital swell.
Its beyond a sales conversation and our bottom line. Its the discussion that, in a spirit of inclusivity, invites partnership in an idea, that will change something for the better.
Reducing inequity is the human’s greatest achievement. Bill Gates.
In the revolution, clans are not an option for the entrepreneur, they’re an imperative.
PS. Bob and Bill are my two fictional heros. They run a timber window frame business. To find out exactly how they aligned their community of DIY renovators and builders to their cause, you can listen to this short ClanTale here.
This post, ‘Clans. It’s a revolution, well, you know’, is part of the monthly Word Carnival hosted by Tea Silvestre, Word Chef.
*Statistics from The Entrepreneurship Monitor, Babson College.
Clans. It’s a revolution, well, you know. is a post from: Why You Must Blog