Building Community

Every now and then something rare and special appears and i have realized it is something needing to be talked about. We participated in a small holiday sale in a private home. The organizer has a rare gift of making everyone feel like they are part of the team. She is kind and very hard working. And through her kindness, and caring she has developed a lovely community of friends that love her, and want to be part of what she is doing. Supporting a dozen artists by allowing opportunity to showcase their work in her beautiful setting is quite a kind vision. One of her friends no longer lives in Ohio but comes in for the weekend to just be there, help as needed, and be a support to make the weekend run smoothly. And so many friends visited the sale to show their support for her. I have seen this pattern before. It is something i would love to foster in my own life. It is a work in process for me.

I have started to assess what qualities make a strong and compassionate influencing leader. Here are a few things that i believe help to build this loyal community of people.

1. Honesty and transparency – Say what you mean, and speak clearly. Honesty is something cant be faked.
2. Clear vision for the mission – Knowing what is to be achieved and what it will look like to execute the project. Clear vision sets the parameters and is clear what is inside the scope of the project
3. Willing to delegate – A great leader will understand their role in the project, and also realize what limitations they have…. delegating those things they see strength in others only makes sense. The example i saw this weekend was the lady that came back to Ohio just to keep the food and drink station clean, filled, and welcoming to everyone. This freed the hostess to meet people, visit artists, and take care of the overall event.
4. Integrity – Integrity is doing what you say you will and acting in a way that is aligned with your own values. It ensures that decisions are made for the greater good.
5. Patience – Not getting rattled by other people but bearing with them. The picture that comes to mind is baking cookies with a 5 year old…. it wont look the same as baking with an adult but the only way to learn is to gently guide, and allow for the process to not look as smooth.
6. Love for people – Another quality you cant fake. We all know how people respond to each other, often exposing the truth of whether people love people, or don’t.

All of these qualities and so many more create an environment we all want. Deep in each of our soul there is a desire to be part of a bigger thing than ourselves. When these qualities are present and there is a clear vision for something we often want to be a part of it. Community is a rich and satisfying way of living, and all too often in this fast paced world we are isolated instead.

So my challenge is to find ways of building community- it may look different for each person, but if we all begin to do this the world will be much kinder, and we will all find greater purpose.