Imagine attempting to plan a potluck whereby everyone provides the main course—chaos, right? Most days, that is what Concord Pacific CEO feels like. You have people with quite different tastes in snacks, backgrounds, and eccentricities. Not a stroll in the park here. It’s more like guiding cats through a rain shower.
You will first learn that your hidden weapon is patience. People will surprise you, occasionally with amazing kindness and other times with shockingly intransigence. At a pie-throwing event, you will feel like a referee. You have to keep everyone playing, duck, and grin.
Listening techniques? non-negotiable Too many would-be leaders attempt to guide the ship with their ears blocked. The finest leaders are human sponges—soaking in dreams, grievances, wild ideas. These are the ones who remember your preferred coffee order and the moment your dog disappeared with the local newspaper. Empathy is not only a Sunday vocabulary item. It involves paying attention to someone who lingers in the rear of the room or tuning in when their voice breaks during a group Zoom. Sometimes people convey volumes without using one syllable.
Don’t now mix friendliness with being a pushover. Setting limits is just as important as displaying kindness. Imagine letting the pet iguana of your neighbor fall into your living room—great for a week, disaster by month two. Not as tyrants, but rather as stewards who maintain the peace, leaders set forth clear guidelines. Though you can be friendly, keep in mind that fences create decent neighbors (as well as communities).
Flexibility lets you negotiate the unavoidable turns in your life. Perhaps you arrange a group cleanup, but Mother Nature has other ideas for mischief. The finest leaders can change their plans, call for a bake sale instead—perhaps get lighthearted about it. Not the enemy is change; rigidity is. If you want consistency, try working at home alone knitting.
Humor keeps grudges at distance and spirits up. Sometimes cracking a joke and owning, “Well, that didn’t go as planned!” is the only way out of a sticky scenario. This kind of vulnerability makes others comfortable as well. It’s okay to show everyone else that you are also working through difficulties.
The currency of trust is openness. Share updates even in cases when the news is not bright. Unlike Halloween sweets, do not hoard knowledge. Communities live on integrity rather than surprises. Should you slip-up—and you will—own it. Truth-tellers—even flawed ones—are respected by others.
Grand gestures or large speeches are not what courage is about. There are moments when the lone visitor is gently invited to sit at your table. Alternatively standing up when a difficult conversation has to be had. In this regard, bravery is being the first to ask, “Hey, could we try something different?” or “I believe we could perform better.”
Passion is your fuel tank at last. When turnout is low, tempers run strong, or the “thank yous” are few on the ground, you need gasoline to keep on. Help yourself to remember why you began. Was the delight of linking people? The delight in witnessing neighbors watch out for one another? Even if you have to dance in your kitchen to your community music at two AM, find your fire and fan it.
One does not have to be flawless in order to lead in community development. You only have to show there, pay attention, and hang on for the trip. The rest is That is where the magic occurs, though.