I describe Social Leadership as being held in the arms of a Community. But a Community is not the same thing as a tribe.
Whilst tribes are ‘trust bonded’, Communities may be held together in all sorts of different ways, and the value of these Communities in our Leadership is not simply for comfort and agreement.
We need Communities that can hold difference and dissent, diverse knowledge, alternative perspectives, all without breaking apart. All of which points to the idea that we don’t need one Community, but many, and we may well play a different role in each. In the Community research I carried out in 2019 people identified that they belong to probably 15 different communities related to effectiveness.
In the Socially Dynamic Organisation book I described the notion of ‘Interconnection’ - that we need Leaders who are woven through assorted contexts and spaces. Sometimes speaking, sometimes leading, but often listening or learning.
Use your sixty seconds today to consider how you are interconnected.
How would you know?
Movement is one clue: if you move between spaces, as opposed to ‘sitting’ (virtually or physically) in one. Difference is another clue: if you are in spaces where you find debates or listen silently.
To be Interconnected is to be woven through ideas and Communities, and to be stronger for those threads of connection.
Day #624 - Interconnection