Communities

Here’s what all communities have in common:

• Consist of individuals, but they make a unified impact
• Give life and meaning to otherwise meaningless situations
• Support the greater good and a higher purpose, other than ‘self’
• Ground us in familiarity, common bonds, and a sense of belonging
• Complement individual strengths with the power of the sum of all the parts
• Offer comfort, assistance, and encouragement
• Serve their people well…

Even for those of us that enjoy our “alone time”, and for people with a high need to ‘handle it’ on their own, the old adage, “there’s strength in numbers” is true.

We can only do so much on our own.  We can only be strong enough, emotionally, for so long.  We’re often smart enough, but only to a certain point.  We enjoy our alone time, but even that gets old.

We’re no match for this world, on our own.  

Think about the teams we’ve been a part of, or those we belong to today.  How about our hometowns, where we grew up?  What about our past or current jobs, the department we worked in, for the company or organization or cause.  

It would have been tough to win a basketball game – One vs. Five.  It would have been rough sledding growing up, going to school, walking down Main Street, and trying to figure this whole thing out, at an early age, alone.  That first day of work, in a new job, in a strange company, around new people, tasked with performing at high levels in areas about which we didn’t know what we didn’t know, facing that alone, with no support, would have been so difficult.

Chances are, we needed someone else.  We needed someone to spend just a little bit of their time – a part of their day, week, or maybe even one time per month was enough.  Not only did we have a need, that person or those people on the team, in the department, or in the company came through for us.  They helped us.  

They made us feel like we could do it – we did belong – we all of a sudden had a strong sense of familiarity despite finding ourselves in an unfamiliar place.

It wasn’t the gym we played in, the job we had, or the company’s name on the outside of the building that helped us in those times of need, it was the community of people around us.

Here’s a thought for this week: Since communities have and continue to serve us so well, it’s incumbent upon all of us to find ways – on our teams, in our jobs, at our companies, and even in our families – to serve our communities well.

Wherever you are, and whoever is in your life, in your family, in your department, or on your team, serve them well.  You never know who may need some community in their life, and you could be the one to make a positive impact.

Have a great day.

PS – Pre-order my next book, Lead with Hospitality here. Release date is April 27th, 2021.

I’ve compiled twenty years’ worth of leadership lessons, stories, and applications for how to lead with hospitality and why it makes a difference that matters for everyone in your life, at work, at home, and in your community.