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Great question.

First, you have to figure out whether people are in Stage Two or Three. This is critical, because if use the "medicine" that works in stage and the other stage, it can backfire.

If people are down in the dumps, get them back to Stage Three by using tips in an above post. If they are in Stage Three, again, use the above tips to get them to Stage Four.

As you do this, you have to emphasize that raises and vacation times will be possible again once we find new sources of revenue, and that you'll need their help and insights in doing that. It it's a "we're in this together...and we can get out of this together," you have a good shot.

Note that if you have this conversation in a Stage Two group, they'll reject it. "That'll never work...we're in deep trouble...our lives stink" is what you'll get back. No involvement or ideas.

At Stage Three, you have tiny shot. People will put forward their ideas, but they won't build on what others do. You'll hear things like: "I know how to do this..." or "If you did what I told you do before, we wouldn't be in this mess." Lots of "I'm great (and you're not."

If you can get them to Stage Four, it'll be a different game, as we've been discussing on this threat. It becomes almost easy to get great results in a short period of time.

Remember: Stage Four is what launched this country. It's what led to the most important scientific advances in history. It can certainly help your company get raises and vacation days.

Stage Five rocks. Most people have never seen one of these groups, but we've read about them in books. Think the group that built the first Macintosh, or groups at Pixar that have never had a flop.

What marks Stage Five is a "life is great" view. There is no competition. They are guided only by their values.

Know that Stage Five only lasts for a short period, and then groups regress to Stage Four. But some companies have moved in and out of Stage Five many times, producing world-changing products (like the I-Pod).

Remember that tribes only move one stage a time. So only Stage Four can move to Five. If you're got a group at Stage Four, ask them: "what can we do that would make history?" The Gallup Organization asked this question and came up with the first ever World Poll (the entire world speaking with a single voice on key issues like peace in the Middle East).

Stage Five is where really remarkable things happen. I hope you all have the opportunity to experience it in your companies...and the results it delivers.

All this is based on Tribal Leadership that HarperCollins published in 2008, by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright. It's on Amazon and in most book stores.

You can go to our web site: www.triballeadership.net and see lots of videos, take a one-minute survey to assess your culture, and sign up a free "Tribal Tip of the Week."

There's also an audio book you can download, that was paid for by our friends at Zappos.com--the first time a major business book was released as a free audio book. We're grateful to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh for that.

Best to all of you--and thanks for reading.