Build Together: Collective Effort For Community Leadership 

You don’t have to be creating content to get noticed. Recognition comes through association.

Being recognised via connection provides so much opportunity. From visibility, to work, to building closer connections. 

This article delves into the dynamics of community leadership and the profound impact of association.

Feeling connected to a community galvanizes people to rally around you, resulting in two key benefits:

Attention and Support: Others rally to support and back you up, fostering a sense of community. It’s where someone else says, ’I’m a part of this too.’ 

Opportunities for Leadership: Being part of a community offers opportunities to step up, lead, and gain visibility.

This is about finding a community where you feel valued, recognized, and encouraged to participate. It’s the people around you who empower each other. 

Our value is influenced by the company we keep and the places we feel a part of. 

It’s essential to surround ourselves with people of integrity, ideas, shared goals, and empower us to keep going.

It’s about being with the right people to support your efforts and accelerate your awareness with other people. We strive to be around others who can provide that opportunity. 

When people join in, it amplifies the whole effort.

Last week marked the first YATM Lunch Club of 2024. The input, good feeling and sharing perspectives of the event carried from Thursday afternoon to Sunday.

The theme was ‘personal branding.’ Surrounding the event are segments where there is a cohesive narrative.

YATM events now follow a structured format. Additionally, creating a WhatsApp Group for each event fosters awareness among attendees, emphasizing the power of association. It’s the link to the overall effort that helps raise every touch point. 

This is what I mean by the power of association.

— There is a central place where people are connected. When we have our YATM events there is so much emphasis on people getting to know others. From WhatsApp to a restaurant there is a heightened sense of being with people and not on your own. It also proves that we can be a part of something much bigger than ourselves.

— It’s easier to say ‘I’m a part of this too’ than to step into a space as a stranger and no means of connecting the dots. This means there is validity to the whole initiative, not just the event. This helps when people connect outside of the event.

— When attendees shared what they thought of the event on LinkedIn, people at the same event joined in with the conversation. By people joining in with each other, it means that reach is lifted and a post becomes elevated by the people who are familiar with each other.

When people are provided a space to step up and lead, it means their presence is magnified. 

Glen Long stepped up as the host for the recent event and chaired the panel discussion. Glen is a talented host. This is where the benefit happens by being a part of the YATM community, the door was open to lead and the platform was there to make the most of. 

It meant that other people became aware of Glen and that a community effort works when it is a team effort and not just via the direction of the few. 

Glen shared his perspective:

“When I hosted my first Lunch Club on Thursday I was certainly feeling the pressure. I didn’t want to “drop the baby”.

But I stepped up because I wanted to get outside of my comfort zone and level-up as a member of the community.

It was an opportunity to get more comfortable in front of a crowd of my peers, but also raise my own profile with that community.

Here’s what I learned:

— When you’re part of a community, the community wants you to do well. And of course when the crowd’s behind you, it’s so much easier to deliver your best.

— While I felt a duty to Mark and the panel to run things well, I realised my real “client” was the audience. They’d given their money and attention to learn about a topic, so that was my north star.

— When the organiser has the confidence to take a back seat it gives you confidence in your abilities and also the permission to add your own personality.

— When an event is based around a community that has familiar faces and a shared history and purpose, it has a built-in momentum. As host you’re riding that existing wave, which makes everything easier.”

I know that community is not about people gathering around the space you build, but encouraging a valuable resource of talented people to step up and make their own mark. It helps to allow people to gain status and take from and give back to, the group.

Our #winning section was Ben Franklin, a student at Bournemouth & Poole College who shared his plans for a new podcast where the theme is starting from zero. This helped to put Ben in front of people who would not have known him before the event. 

This is the power of association. It’s by being a part of a space that can elevate you and also the people you participate with. 

Contribution leads to better outcomes. Community leadership means everyone can look around at a better space.

Leadership and participation flourish when people feel part of a community.

When there is an opportunity to be seen and feel a part, grab it with both hands. 

It’s disheartening to invest in a community only to feel like a mere number. Everyone desires visibility and validation. No one wants to live a life at the back of the room.

We all want to have guidance paved out for us but it’s also important to be seen.

Too many initiatives put their angle of authority on people paying attention to a person, instead of inviting people on an adventure that has meaning where everyone can grow.

This is where attachment to a community can deliver so much, just by your association with what is happening.

Here is advice for you to maximise your opportunity. 

1) Recognise The Places You Choose Be Involved With

Is your input valued?

Does it feel right for you?

Is there a flow of communication?

Does it interest you?

Do you feel seen or ignored?

Can you contribute?

Is it easy to step and participate?

Is there an opportunity to interact with other people?

The biggest step is finding that space where you know it can help improve your visibility, the exchange of ideas, and where your input is valued. No one wants to commit only to be ignored. The aim is to participate in a community that feels right to you and there is potential to build with others. It’s the equivalent of starting a podcast where the only listeners are your friends and family, or starting a podcast where there a wider audience you are already a part of, that is with you from episode one.

2) Understand the experiences you can gain from it

Can you form partnerships with others?

Is there enough scope to get involved?

Does activity promote online and offline involvement?

Is there a mix of learning and camaraderie?

Can it enhance your sense of feeling connected to the whole initiative?

Can what you gain be of benefit to you?

Can it open new opportunities for you?

Community involvement doesn’t just have to be limited to a Slack or Discord group there has to be a variety of scope to amplify the whole experience. When there are ways to look around and know that your involvement is alongside other people, it is the group that raises the whole effort. The reason this works is when people recognise the benefit and there is the ability to step up and join in. 

When you know you can join in, it puts your talents in front of others, it makes you feel good too.

When people feel part of the journey, collective efforts are magnified.

Creating and building with other people around you, means others are there to cheer you on. Development becomes a team effort, not an isolated toil.

By recognising the value of association and actively engaging within communities, people can transform from passive observers to invested participants.

In this transformation, the impact of one becomes the strength of many, solidifying the belief that true growth is a collective journey.

N.B. This headline for this article was from one of the YATM community.