Power of community

Speaker: Entrepreneur Sharmedean Reid - Founder of The Stack World

Copy on screen: The Corporate Newsroom: Community Building

Community building is important at every level of an organization.

Some of the most powerful communities I've seen have been at C-level, so it might be a group of CMOs coming together once a quarter to share insights, intel, but also just to find friends and to find community.

So don't think that that's something outside of your reach. Whoever you are, wherever you are in your organization, try and set up a community. Either for peer-to peer or other clients.

It can be really challenging to get younger employees to understand the power of community building, particularly face to face.

What I would say is that networking is absolutely key to getting promoted.

It's key to your professional development and it's key to get in front of senior leaders to let them know who you are and what you're about.

Often community building falls on the shoulders of historically excluded people or marginalized communities, which comes as additional labour, and it's not additionally paid.

Senior leaders should really think about how to support their community leaders to do their job effectively and what tools they put into place to give them not only financial support, but also mental health support, because otherwise a lot of community leaders burn out.

My top tips for community building are to create a document of shared values. Think of it as a manifesto or a rallying cry.

My next tip would be to send an invitation. Reach out, identify your ideal members and invite them into the fold.

My final tip would be consistency. Whether you meet anually or quarterly or weekly, create a consistent schedule because then anyone who joins knows what to expect.

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