This is my 76th Ponderings, and thank you for being part of this experience with me. It is also my final one of 2024 and I am excited about my choice of topic.
You know the saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child”, we all know what that means. Of course you can’t raise a child entirely alone, the input from other loving people in your child’s life is critical for them to grow with confidence, clarity, joy, resilience and a feeling of safety and knowledge, so many aspects of life and love from others help children thrive.
So why would your business baby be any different?
We all love our businesses, we want them to thrive, and have that in-built resilience to whatever happens around it. We want to know that others care for it and want the best for it, and that means we all need a village around our business.
When I ‘onboard’ a new BIPPer, a member of our community, I explain that they are now part of a village, many people around them and their business, that will support, love, teach and help them thrive.
My deepest belief is that we need a village, a community, to achieve great businesses, and I want to leave you with this thought and ask you to ponder it over your festive period of reflection.
Let me explain how a ‘business village’ will help you and perhaps you can create your own, or find one where you feel you fit in.
Now this is more like a story, but I like stories. Hope you do too. Using metaphors helps me to teach. 🏡
🏡 Joining a new ‘business village- your new community.
So, you drive into your new drive, a van packed with memories, joys and adversity and perhaps you have even decided to move into this village as you have experienced loneliness in business.
The owner/leader of that ‘village’ makes you feel welcome and helps you unpack your van. Through conversation you learn about the village and how it works, enabling you to create the right environment for growth for yourself. The unpacking is joyful, and through honest, mutual conversation, you realise you are about to experience a village that will care for you and enable you to care and contribute to others too.
🙋♀️Meeting your neighbours- your new business friends.
Every village is full of neighbours. Fellow ‘citizens’, that care deeply about the culture of the village, maintaining a warmth, created through honesty, ensuring that no one needs to over hype their life, everyone has had their own personal journey to this point and no one judges it, in fact, they love people who have faced adversity and as a result have turned it into great learning and humility. Fortunately, there is a culture of meeting up, having 121’s and rather than selling overtly to each other, they seek to understand one another and go far deeper than purely waving in the street.
🥳Walking into the ‘pub’. You socialize with your new neighbours.
It is fabulous, as this new village has social events as well as business ones, the social ones are the most powerful, as you get to know one another as friends. Trust is built through truth and sharing. You become committed to your friends’ success and they also feel that way about you. Fortunately, your new ‘pub’ meets in person and online and so there is no barrier to keeping in touch and being seen, liked and respected.
🎤Enjoying the events in the village hall- random learning.
Like all villages ‘ there is a Village Hall. Events take place in order to help you develop, both personally and professionally. What is so exciting is that you can also run an event and showcase your expertise and help your fellow ‘citizens’ to learn and be inspired by you. Many Village Halls have yoga, or children’s nursery. In this Village Hall you learn skills, such as how to empower your business with AI, or personal Development ones around your mental wellbeing and to ensure you and your business are in flow.
👨❤️👨The culture of the village- the most important part.
Peter Drucker said ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ and over and over again in building communities we have seen the impact of establishing the right culture for your chosen ‘citizens’ as the highest priority, above the ‘things’ offered, we all seek to be cared for and seen.
When joining any community, be yourself at all times, no need for you to pretend to be more successful, pretend that sometimes life and business throws a curved ball. Join somewhere that makes you feel good about who you are and enables you to get to know the real side of all your new neighbours.
🧗Business Is Personal, our minds impact our performance in business, the impact of belonging and being able to contribute to others as well as receive contribution is quite transformational.
Can we encourage you to step out of any ‘lone wolf’ mindsets and see what can happen when you join a ‘super-pack’, a place where we are more than ‘pack animals’ that hunt for business, we all thrive together as we know that emotional bonds and EQ are the core ways to live our lives.
Wishing you a wonderful Festive Holiday, an amazing rest and reset and I look forward to many moments with you in 2025.
and..thank you, for all the ways you have added to my life this year, just knowing someone is at the end of my keyboard has helped me enormously. To the BIPPers reading this, thank you for allowing Thomas and I to have the best business we have ever experienced. You are a great joy in our lives.
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