Community Bulding - Genuiness is fundamental

With any community effort, genuineness and commitment has to be a central attribute. That complimentary, patient, caring, and empathetic approach is the only effective way to build a sustainable community. As community builders, we cannot come in as "fixers" or "solvers" we must be a "supporter, encourager, resource, and facilitator." We must realize that within any community, numerous resources exist (skills, talents, abilities, finances, and relationships) that often lay untapped in the members and attendees. This often happens because leaders are okay doing the work themselves or they prefer to follow their own vision and not a corporate vision for the community. We cannot assume that the vision or the passion we hold for a community is a reflection of the community. We must involve those who do not always agree with us and challenges us to do better than to simply go with those who always agree with us.

I was reminded of this fact when I read a video post by Nephos as I was studying to teach a class on Sunday. The video comes from pronounced atheist and comedic magician Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller). It describes an encounter he had with a man who gave him a Gideon Bible. Here is a great example of genuineness and made me wonder the impact of 10 genuine people. Also his comments on "how much hate do you have to have" really brings home the idea of commitment to your beliefs. Do you have anything "worth" believing in enough to give of yourself, your reputation, your life? Just as within a community, community builders get involved for their own self-interest, their own passion for a cause. Genuineness, commitment, empathy, and care are fundamental to community builders.

Check out the Penn testimonial video here.