One of the great roles that a father (and grandfather) must play in the upbringing of his offspring is that of tower builder. I have two grandsons (3 and 1 year old) that live close by and when they come over to Poppy's house, I know that some of the time will be spent on the floor building towers out of the plastic and cloth blocks supplied by the builder. My job is to build the tower and theirs is to knock it down as soon as possible. Sometimes I get lucky and get three layers stacked up before one or both of the giants knock the blocks across the floor. Both of the boys have the mind-set of the ancient Assyrians: that no two stones shall stand upon another. One evening both boys were out of the room at the same time (diaper change and potty break), so I quickly got all the blocks I could find and made three towers as high as I could balance them. When the boys came back in and saw the towers unguarded, they charged the structures with incredible resolve and laughed with glee as they caused the blocks to fly in all directions.
Building towers in the living room is easy and fun. They are meant to be knocked down and rebuilt... the building/demolition process is to bring laughter and smiles to the boys' faces. But building community is no laughing matter. Building community is difficult and yet imperative. Creating a shared sense of purpose... a common vision... and a unified excitement is vital for the health and movement of an organization. Building a positive, vibrant community throughout the corporate entity is a common goal for CEOs. And yet, how to accomplish such a community is not an easy recipe .
Community demands vision - a fresh, challenging, inspiring vision, but it is more than that. Community requires purpose and a sense of mission - something worth living for, dying for and sacrificing for, but it is more than that as well. Community cries out for collaboration - friendships, a sense of family, a team spirit of altruism, and a group of kindred spirits running hand in hand, and yet there is still more. Community encompasses all of these things plus a secret ingredient - humble servanthood. Vision and purpose and collaboration plus humility demonstrated in service builds community. Being willing to serve others, being willing to put down our agendas; being willing to put the needs of others ahead of our own - this is the attitude that can create community.
However, just as my two grandsons can destroy a grand tower with a single kick, so organizational community can be easily devastated. The strong towers of vision, mission, and collaboration can be crumbled by enemies - both intentional and unintentional. Intentional acts like gossip, slander and jealousy can quickly remove the foundational stones of community. The poison of gossip seeps into the cracks of the ear and deep into the heart of man. Reputations of honest men and women are called into question and gaps of mistrust appear in the foundations of the organizational structure. Slander kicks the wounded and spreads misunderstanding among the troops. Jealousy drives men and women to act contrary to the vision and mission in the name of its own agenda.
Even in the midst of a strong community, an individual must guard against himself. Unintentional attitudes and wrong motives may begin to creep into the fabric of the community. If great sacrifice goes unnoticed, or if others are praised for jobs well done, but you seem overlooked in the glory of the moment, pride might raise its ugly head. "I deserve credit... I worked hard too... I can't believe they didn't notice..." The "I"s of pride are literally the eyes that can blind an organization and destroy its culture of humility.
Selfishness can take many forms: money, power, ambition and vanity to list a few. When one of these idols of the heart takes the place of the vision, purpose, or collaborative spirit of the organization, community will lose its effectiveness. I recently heard David Ramsey, CEO of The Lampo Group Inc., speak during a simulcast, and he shared that his company has a zero tolerance for gossip - negative language or gossip will not be tolerated and employees will be fired if they violate this expectation. Why so harsh? Because the culture and community that is being created can be so easily destroyed by the poison of the words of individuals.
Vision - YES! Mission - VITAL! Collaboration - ESSENTIAL! Humility and Service - THE SECRET INGREDIENTS! Beware of the enemies within and begin to build a strong community where you are.
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