The Power of Community

Stakes are very high;  this seems to be an age of increasing acrimony and the resulting isolationism.   The antidote is community. . .people  who support one another and ultimately have one another's best interest at heart.    Whether at work or on the national stage or in social circles, community is vital to success.    Community is the power of many  vs. the power of one.

How one does one build community?

Open yourself to others.   In building community, you want to know about the people you are engaging - the same is true of you by the people who are building their own communities.    Share information about yourself, become unsheltered.       Find common interests and concerns.  

Look for people you can trust.     Trust is a special commodity;   truthfulness is even a rarer commodity.   Thoughtfully listen to the people you are engaging. . .do their words and subsequent actions indicate that they are trustworthy?     More important, are they truthworthy? (Clue here:   if they brag about how they lied to someone - they will lie to you).

Engage with people who are smart.   Differentiate this from people who tell you they are smart.     Smart doesn't necessarily mean (even though I wholeheartedly support a college education) that they have an MBA or BA - some of the smartest people I've worked with built their careers upon high school diplomas.  Look beyond "book smart" and seek emotionally smart, street smart and world smart. 

Seek diversity.    Yes it means ethnicity. . .and gender. . .and sexual orientation.  It also means diversity in strengths and skill sets.  I do not have an engineering mindset - I'm so thankful for those people in my life who can think with an engineering thought process and guide me accordingly.      We seek diversity because it strengthens us;   first and foremost, we seek diversity because it is the right thing to do.

Differentiate between narcissism and finding people you truly enjoy.   Yes, we are attracted to people who are like us, but longer term those may not be the people we really enjoy working with and playing with and relaxing with.     Find comradery.

Selflessness.  Individuals and communities that look inward are ineffective;    those that look outward and channel their energies to other individuals and other communities are those that will change the world.

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My book "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders" is available on Amazon Kindle.