It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
All of our past posts have been placed HERE if you want to go back and read one.
This past week I talked about the 4 Needs of Leaders and shared a little of my story in identifying these things. You can read it HERE.
Today I want to share some things that are important to remember when you build a Coaching Community.
In the year 2000, I had the opportunity to invite a group of leaders from Latin America to gather together in Ecuador. We were all working at the time in different aspects of Youth Ministry, but we weren't connected together in any way. We invited this group of leaders to come to Quito, and we spent 3 days together. The goal was to find ways to work together and build collaborative partnership.
This happened, but we also built significant friendships with this group, we shared our lives, we shared our struggles, we learned from each other, and we supported each other.
When this group left, I remember feeling blown away by the intimacy, the vulnerability, the support, the laughter and the new friendship. It just happened. We all needed that kind of community, and we all worked to create it.
That group continued meeting together for 5 years. It grew and changed, but some of those relationships continue to this day because of the foundation that was build in those early years. We called this the "Latin Summit".
Here are a couple of things I learned about COMMUNITY from that Latin Summit Group:
#1) Take the time to build relationships first before creating partnerships.
We are often in such a hurry to get to work. Build the relationships, then the partnership opportunities will emerge and they'll be stronger.
#2) Take the time to play together in the midst of working together.
I think I laughed more during these days with these leaders than I had in a long time. It was so good for my soul. We had fun, we were a little out of control, and it was wonderful.
#3) Take the time to be vulnerable. Don't be afraid of that.
I think in the back of my mind, I thought that first gathering was going to be each of us sharing about the greatest things we were doing in leadership. The opposite happened... we began to share our hurts, our fears, our failures, our concerns, our dreams and our frustrations. We listened to each other, encouraged each other, prayed for each other. That process knit us together as a community.
#4) Take the time to listen to each other. Stop talking.
We took turns telling our stories, sharing about our work and our vision, sharing about our lives. We all listened, and we learned from each other.
There are other elements that are really important, but when I think of these 4, I think they are key.
Think about groups, communities, or teams you're a part of. Do you do these 4 things: Relationships, Play, Vulnerability, Listen
What can you do to bring these things into your group intentionally?
I think this is the foundation for any Coaching Community that really works.
The the group of leaders from that first Latin Summit: Phil, Dave, Mark, Rich, Elizabeth, Shawn, Tim, Annette, Jerry, Jeffrey, Lucas, Santiago, Gina, and me (Russ)... I'll remember those days with deep appreciation for each of you and gratitude for your investment into my life, into our lives.
"Community is like a big family." Zygmunt Bauman
"Community is about doing something together that makes belonging matter." Brian Solis
"The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members." Coretta Scott King
