Community vs. Independence – is it really a choice? | The Connection Diaries

Is community really an important asset in organizational life?

We often talk about the value of Community, and sometimes we find that clients react with surprise and skepticism – what does that even mean? Do we really have to work on “community building” in order to be successful?

We’ve also been hearing about a perceived tension between our rights as individuals and the common good. We live in cultures that place a high value on individual merit and performance, and yet we’ve learned this year that isolation and carrying our burdens alone can be deeply damaging not only to our productivity but also to our health and well-being. Can we maintain our independence while also being a committed part of something with others? How? And what does this mean for our organizations?

In this episode of The Connection Diaries, Mickey Connolly and Anne Murray Allen share why they believe these two things aren’t actually mutually exclusive. Instead, they argue that our perceived value as an individual (and our well-being) is inextricably linked to our sense of belonging and our ability to contribute – to our relationships, our teams, to what we’re in together – in ways we find meaningful and energizing. When we prioritize the health of our communities and value each person within them, we find ourselves supported to realize our own unique brilliance and encouraged to bring those strengths to our teams.

“When we’re contributing to a community at work, the whole community is getting smarter. And when the community is smarter, I have more resource to act independently. So they coexist. We don’t do anything in isolation. The more I can contribute to you as my team member, the more I belong and the more esteem I’m held in, the more resources are now available to me.” 

What questions are you wrestling with? Is there anything you’d love advice from other leaders on how to handle? What have your organizations been doing that’s working well? Comment below or connect with us on LinkedIn! Let’s unleash our collective brilliance.