These are terms being bandied about lately: Community, Leadership and Visionaries.
Community. What is Community? We live in a time when it is as easy to connect to people in Europe as it is to connect to people in our home town. But Community starts at home. It’s where we live.
Some community leaders spend time on their own agenda, but not on connecting with other communities. We are a collection of micro-communities, many times running in parallel; other times in cross-purpose with other micro-communities in our own geographic circle.
One fear surrounding the Internet is that we will become insulated from other opinions and surround ourselves with like-minded people who don’t oppose our world view. That’s not how thinking happens. To poke the box, you need to be able to defend your world view or philosophy or opinion against thoughtful debate. But I’m getting away from my idea for the post.
We talk about Community in grand scale. But it starts in your backyard. (Local is all, right?) It starts with people, because who but people in you backyard make up community?
Leadership is a funny word. It isn’t defined by notoriety or fame or celebrity. A leader is someone who has a vision and, well, leads. She does that by following that vision. If you look around and no one is following, you may not be a leader. Every tribe needs a leader. Someone to be the beacon of the vision, like Steve Jobs or Gloria Steinem or Martin Luther King, Jr.
Visionary is not a title you get to pick for yourself. It’s about seeing the future. It’s about imagining what is to come. It’s also about expounding that idea, spreading it, making it happen.
In none of these cases – community, leadership, visionary – is it about YOU. It’s about the Tribe. It’s about moving forward, paying back, taking a stand, but always about bettering the ball. That’s a volleyball term that means when you make a play on the ball, you improve the position of the ball for your team to make a play. Mothers say to leave the place better than when you arrived.
The next time you are thinking about these terms – community, leader, visionary – remember that it isn’t about you. It’s about those around you, where you live, and what you will be remembered for. It’s about Actions more than Words.
Words are easy. So are Ideas. The stand outs Act, Ship, Create, Do.
