Community is great - but how do you build it?
In this article I will describe an age old paradox - the individual against the community. You will encounter a new and surprising message. Hold your horses.
The situation is that everything is part of something bigger. A drop of water is part of a lake. An ice crystal is part of an ice cream cake. A resident is part of a residential area. Five dollars is part of a monthly salary. An employee is part of a team. A center forward is part of Real Madrid. A singing voice is part of a choir.
Seven examples that are clear and understandable. But even so, they can be deeply complicated when the harmony, the balance, the power, the agreements or the balance of power shift.
What exactly is a community?
A community is a group of people who are connected by something they have in common, something they agree on, something they have the same point of view on or, for example, something that interests them. Community can also be togetherness. In all communities, both inclusion and exclusion are at stake. Through 'negotiations' it is decided who is in and who is out.
The part affects the whole
The part must function optimally. And so must the whole. The part and the whole are deeply dependent on each other. If, for example, one employee has a sickday, it will affect the remaining employees. A colleague is missing. If the collaboration is 'sick', it also affects them all. Cooperation is lacking.
The whole affects the part
So when the part does not work it affects the whole. And when the whole does not work, it affects the part. When, for example, oil prices rise, a large part of us begin to change our driving habits. And if the working environment is not in order, the employees will not thrive. They get sick and stressed and confused and look for new jobs.
Catch 22: The part or the whole
It is a paradox. Maybe right now you think that it doesn't matter what you do, then both the part and the whole are impossible. But it all depends on the context. When it comes to people, you have to 'attack' the whole. Motivate them all together. Give them all a raise. Give them all off on Thursday. Talk to them all nicely.
Come together
Prepare a boiled dish. Hire a three-piece orchestra and prepare a welcome speech. At 6 p.m., 30 people flock to your gathering. They are listening to your welcome speech. They clap. They eat the food served. They dance to the music of the orchestra. And when they are tired they go home. Success. You designed a gathering for the whole and in this way served each guest.
Read HOST MAGAZINE
When you serve the whole, all the guests will keep an eye on you. They formulate a story about what they see. They publish the story in the magazine called HOST MAGAZINE. If the host has invited well, has given a nice welcome speech, has served an edible dish, has ordered a good orchestra and has had a little talk with everyone, then the host can expect a number of good articles in the journal. But if the host fails, it will be seen and heard - and it will be written and published in the same journal.
Begin with the whole
With a group of people, it is difficult to deal with the part first and then hope that the whole will follow. If the manager treats the employees one at a time - i.e. individually - then the whole will never work.
Try giving a candy to a selected employee. Everyone else will pounce on the happy giver and demand a candy too. Or try giving an employee the parking space closest to the entrance without telling the rest. These situations spur conflict.
You can do different things
Individuals must be fed with a sense of community. Every time they are caught in the act with their hand in the cake tin, when they are revealed with their arms wrapped around too many bargains, when they stand at the front of the queue for the lifeboat, when they eat all but one of the raisins, when they grab the last available chair - then they are taught the importance of being part of a community.
Some community is compulsion
In a terraced housing development, there is a board for a landowner association. In the eyes of the members, the board has the greatest power. And maybe the board just wants to flour their own cake. Several of the residents have expressed themselves individually by letting the hedge grow uninhibited, by setting up a different type of lamp, by painting with a different colour, by slightly changing the facade, by moving a fence post. But the board must not come and change that. No one will force me to do anything.
But all people move into a community. A stairway. A garden association. A housing association. And you have to comply with some rules and regulations. And you sign them. If you do not sign, you cannot move in. But this type of community is a forced community. The residents have nothing in common, no common views, no common interests. They have chosen to live there themselves, but they have nothing in common.
The missing link: The whole
Community works when the 'leader' invites the whole, when the leader motivates the whole and when the leader thinks in whole and together, no matter what.
Have a great time building your community. Find tools for it HERE
You and me and all of us
The situation is that everything is part of something bigger. A drop of water is part of a lake. An ice crystal is part of an ice cream cake. A resident is part of a residential area. Five dollars is part of a monthly salary. An employee is part of a team. A center forward is part of Real Madrid. A singing voice is part of a choir.
Seven examples that are clear and understandable. But even so, they can be deeply complicated when the harmony, the balance, the power, the agreements or the balance of power shift.
What exactly is a community?
A community is a group of people who are connected by something they have in common, something they agree on, something they have the same point of view on or, for example, something that interests them. Community can also be togetherness. In all communities, both inclusion and exclusion are at stake. Through 'negotiations' it is decided who is in and who is out.
The part affects the whole
The part must function optimally. And so must the whole. The part and the whole are deeply dependent on each other. If, for example, one employee has a sickday, it will affect the remaining employees. A colleague is missing. If the collaboration is 'sick', it also affects them all. Cooperation is lacking.
The whole affects the part
So when the part does not work it affects the whole. And when the whole does not work, it affects the part. When, for example, oil prices rise, a large part of us begin to change our driving habits. And if the working environment is not in order, the employees will not thrive. They get sick and stressed and confused and look for new jobs.
Catch 22: The part or the whole
It is a paradox. Maybe right now you think that it doesn't matter what you do, then both the part and the whole are impossible. But it all depends on the context. When it comes to people, you have to 'attack' the whole. Motivate them all together. Give them all a raise. Give them all off on Thursday. Talk to them all nicely.
Come together
Prepare a boiled dish. Hire a three-piece orchestra and prepare a welcome speech. At 6 p.m., 30 people flock to your gathering. They are listening to your welcome speech. They clap. They eat the food served. They dance to the music of the orchestra. And when they are tired they go home. Success. You designed a gathering for the whole and in this way served each guest.
Read HOST MAGAZINE
When you serve the whole, all the guests will keep an eye on you. They formulate a story about what they see. They publish the story in the magazine called HOST MAGAZINE. If the host has invited well, has given a nice welcome speech, has served an edible dish, has ordered a good orchestra and has had a little talk with everyone, then the host can expect a number of good articles in the journal. But if the host fails, it will be seen and heard - and it will be written and published in the same journal.
Begin with the whole
With a group of people, it is difficult to deal with the part first and then hope that the whole will follow. If the manager treats the employees one at a time - i.e. individually - then the whole will never work.
Try giving a candy to a selected employee. Everyone else will pounce on the happy giver and demand a candy too. Or try giving an employee the parking space closest to the entrance without telling the rest. These situations spur conflict.
You can do different things
Individuals must be fed with a sense of community. Every time they are caught in the act with their hand in the cake tin, when they are revealed with their arms wrapped around too many bargains, when they stand at the front of the queue for the lifeboat, when they eat all but one of the raisins, when they grab the last available chair - then they are taught the importance of being part of a community.
Some community is compulsion
In a terraced housing development, there is a board for a landowner association. In the eyes of the members, the board has the greatest power. And maybe the board just wants to flour their own cake. Several of the residents have expressed themselves individually by letting the hedge grow uninhibited, by setting up a different type of lamp, by painting with a different colour, by slightly changing the facade, by moving a fence post. But the board must not come and change that. No one will force me to do anything.
But all people move into a community. A stairway. A garden association. A housing association. And you have to comply with some rules and regulations. And you sign them. If you do not sign, you cannot move in. But this type of community is a forced community. The residents have nothing in common, no common views, no common interests. They have chosen to live there themselves, but they have nothing in common.
The missing link: The whole
Community works when the 'leader' invites the whole, when the leader motivates the whole and when the leader thinks in whole and together, no matter what.
Have a great time building your community. Find tools for it HERE
Michael Meinhardt
LEADERSwarehouse.com
LEADERSwarehouse.com
☎ +45 71 92 55 63 ✉ info@LEADERSwarehouse.com
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