Leading a "Community"

By no means do I feel I have an understanding of US or foreign politics and would not do well in any political debate with my peers.  However, I do feel I can do a decent job of leading various teams and working within a group.  I understand what is required to lead and be successful.  The Republican Convention has started to get me thinking of what it takes to be a great leader in a community.

 The Republican Convention in Florida is a reminder of how quickly November is approaching.  At this time America will be choosing their leader for the next 4 years.  Both gentleman are well educated, have various experiences in business and government.  On paper either one would seem like a decent choice.  However, even the best candidates on paper do not prove to be inspirational leaders who inspire greatness and action.  I am sure this is the case in many work places.  Those who have extensive backgrounds in education with exceptional technical skills may not translate to great managers/supervisors.    

Whether your organization is small or large even as big as 300 million people I believe the leaders need to create a sense of community.  By definition community is a unified body of individuals.  With this we may be part of several communities in our daily lives.  We are part of our communities in which we live in, where we work, various organizations we belong to, etc.  Based upon what I saw at the Republican Convention they are on the wrong path to creating a "community" and I don’t expect anything less from the upcoming Democratic Convention. 

By creating a sense of “community" in your organization you will create engaged followers who work towards a common goal.  Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors will influence your followers to drive towards your organizational goals.  As a leader of a "community" you need to understand the residents/employees from the lowest level workers to the executive team.  You need to be able to inspire everyone in your community and let them know that their existence on the team is crucial to the "community’s" success. 

Here are 3 ways to create a sense of “community” within your organization.

1)      Hold each employee responsible to the organization’s success

-          This will demonstrate that you trust every member of your team which will increase employee engagement dramatically

2)       Don’t try to lead on your own

-          Empower others by identifying exceptional leaders within your organization and give them the responsibility of forming specific committees that align with the organization’s mission and vision

3)      Share      

-          Include your employees in monthly, quarterly and yearly reports.  Even go beyond this and use social media to update employees on the developments of various projects and individual successes    

In what ways do you create a sense of “community” within your organization?