March 2, 2026
If you aren’t already familiar with the concept of tribal leadership, you will be if you’re attending PALTC26 later this month. Dave Logan, PhD, a co-author of the 2008 New York Times bestseller Tribal Leadership, is the conference’s keynote speaker.
Dr. Logan studies how people communicate within a company—and how to harness our natural gifts to make changes within organizations. He examines emerging patterns in corporate leadership, organizational transformation, generational differences in the workplace, and team building for high-potential managers and executives. Learn more about him.
Based on a 10-year study of 24,000 people, Tribal Leadership offers a clear roadmap for leading and managing organizations. “We found that culture exists in micro pockets, ‘tribes,’ so every organization is a network of tribes—groups of 20 to 150 people,” Dr. Logan explains.
Tribal cultures are in five levels, going from everything people don’t want to everything they do:
- "Life sucks."
- "My life sucks."
- "I’m great (and you’re not)."
- "We’re great."
- "Life is great."
Dr. Logan says, “Leaders move tribes one level at a time—there’s no skipping steps—and sustainable performance emerges when teams move from lone-expert thinking to shared purpose.”
He believes tribal leadership can benefit post-acute and long-term care clinicians—who he says do Level 4 and 5 work by definition because caring for people at the end of life is inherently meaningful—by giving them “a fast diagnostic. Listen to how your team talks, and you know exactly where you are.” In addition, he notes, it reframes burnout as a culture problem, not an individual one.
He plans to remind attendees that “you are the culture—your language shapes your team’s reality every day. Work on culture with the same devotion you show to patient care, because great patient care requires a great culture.”
Don’t miss Dr. Logan and the other inspiring and thought-provoking speakers on the program. Register now to attend in person or participate in the Virtual Learning Track—which features all 3 General Sessions (including Dr. Logan’s keynote), 11 live-streamed sessions, and more. See everything that's included.