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     KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
   ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
             Volume 103, April 2010
  Publisher: © Key Associates, 2010
              ISSN # 1545-8873
           http://www.mkkey.com/

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This Issue: On "Creating a Spirit of Community in the Workplace"

Guest Contributor: Ed Groody, Principal, Ed Groody & Associates, Knoxville TN

Contents:

“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be
no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, 
and ultimately no life, without community.”
            -- M. Scott Peck, MD, The Road Less Traveled          

“The hard stuff is the easy stuff. The soft stuff is the hard stuff. 
The soft stuff is much harder than the hard stuff.”
           -- Tom Melohn, President of North American Tool and Die

“Work can provide the opportunity for spiritual and personal, 
as well as financial growth. If it doesn’t, then we’re placing 
far too much emphasis on it…. Good management is largely 
a matter of Love…. Because proper management involves 
caring for people, not manipulating them.”
           -- James Autrey, Love and Profit

“The highest spiritual calling today is not of a monk, 
priest or minister in a church, mosque or synagogue, 
but a manager of people in business.”
           -- M. Scott Peck, MD, The Road Less Traveled

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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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COMMUNICATING AUTHENTICALLY.

LISTENING FROM “EMPTINESS” – i.e.,  
WITH EMPATHY AND WITHOUT EXPECTAT IONS 
OR AGENDAS.

BRIDGING DIFFERENCES WITH RESPECT.

TAKING TIME FOR SELF, TEAM EXAMINATION 
AND REFLECTION.

DISAGREEING AND FIGHTING GRACEFULLY.

USING TIMES OF SILENCE TO REFLECT, LET GO 
AND GET BACK ON TRACK.

VIEWING WORK AS A PLACE NOT ONLY TO MAKE 
A PROFIT, BUT ALSO TO GROW AND DEVELOP 
PERSONALLY AND SPIRITUALLY.

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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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Truly great workgroups and organizations are difficult 
to describe, but have an easily felt and recognized spirit of 
community. While these organizations face just as many 
problems as their competitors, employee commitment to 
each other and the company is exceptionally high. 
Work, no matter the industry, is meaningful. There is 
a depth of communication and authenticity when needed. 
Difficult issues and conflict are addressed. People relate with respect.

Most organizations and workgroups, however, are challenged 
with common but frustrating people issues such as: office politics, 
hidden agendas, lack of alignment, mistrust and ineffective 
communication. This is especially true in hard times.

The concept and experience of “community in the workplace” 
was popularized by M. Scott Peck M.D., the renowned late 
author of The Road Less Traveled. Community Building is 
a method for improving communication and relationships – 
as well as a philosophy of management.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
************************************* 
"What is community?"

Community is an actual experience that a group of people 
have together if they practice certain rules, principles 
and guidelines of communication. Dr. Peck offers these 
two definitions:

“...'community' is a group of two or more people who, 
regardless of the diversity of their backgrounds, have 
been able to accept and transcend their differences, 
enabling them to communicate openly and effectively, 
and to work together towards common goals, while 
having a sense of unusual safety with one another. 
Community Building methods endeavor to create this 
safe place.”

“A group of individuals who have committed to communicate 
honestly and authentically with each other, whose relationships 
go deeper than their masks of composure, and who have 
developed some significant commitment to ‘rejoice together,’ 
to ‘mourn together’ and to ‘delight in each other, and make 
others’ conditions our own.’”

 

"What are the stages on the journey to community?"

Understanding the stages of community helps workgroups build, 
experience and maintain a spirit of community in the workplace. 
The four stages are:

 

1.   Pseudocommunity :  For many workgroups or organizations the initial stage of pseudocommunity, 
is the only stage they ever experience. It is a stage of pretense. The group 
pretends it already is a community, i.e., that is has no conflicts or unresolved 
issues. In this stage, issues or “elephants in the room” remain hidden, 
everyone minds their manners and tries their best not to say anything 
that might antagonize or upset anyone else. In this stage, workgroup 
members remain polite, inauthentic, boring, sterile and unproductive.

 

2.    Chaos :  Over time workplace issues and individual differences may gradually 
emerge so that the workgroup enters the stage of chaos and frequently 
self-destructs. The theme of pseudocommunity is the covering up of 
individual differences; the predominant theme of the stage of chaos 
is the attempt to get rid of differences by having people “do it my way.” 
This is done as the group members try to place demands on, convert, 
heal or fix each other or argue for simplistic organizational norms. 
It is often an irritating, win/lose, rapid-fire experience with little real 
listening and communication.

 

3.    Emptiness :  If the work group or organization can hang in together through the 
unpleasantness of chaos without self-destructing or retreating back 
into pseudocommunity, then it begins to enter "emptiness." This 
is a stage of difficult but valuable work, a time when the team members 
work to deal with issues and empty themselves of everything that 
stands between them and building trust and community. What must 
be let go or “emptied” may be prejudices, snap judgments, fixed 
expectations, the urge to win, the fear of looking like a fool, the 
need to control, hidden resentments or past disappointments. 
These issues must be aired before the individual can be fully 
"present" to the group. It is a time of risk, vulnerability and courage.

 

4.    Community :  At this point a team member can speak of something particularly 
insightful or poignant and authentic. Instead of retreating from it, 
the work group now sits in silence, absorbing it. Then a second 
member is empowered to speak and say something equally authentic. 
The process continues with deep and effective listening and respect.

 

The shift into community is often quite sudden and dramatic. 
The change is palpable. A spirit of trust and peacefulness pervades 
the workgroup. There is a natural rhythm to conversations and 
communication, with real listening. Now that it is a community 
it is ready to go to work, making decisions, planning, negotiating, 
etc. with phenomenal efficiency and effectiveness.

 

"What are some of the characteristics of a genuine community?"

1.     1.  Inclusivity and Commitment:  Co-workers accept and embrace each other, 
making room for individuality and differences. They commit themselves to 
the effort of being a workplace  community and to the people involved. 
They make decisions and reconcile their differences through dialogue.

2    2.  Realism: Team members bring together multiple perspectives to 
better understand the whole context of the situation. Decisions are 
more well-rounded and humble, rather than one-sided and arrogant.

3.   3.  Contemplation: Co-workers reflect and examine themselves and 
the workgroup’s functioning. They are individually and collectively 
self-aware of the world outside themselves, the world inside themselves, 
and the relationship between the two.

4.   4.  A Safe Place: Co-workers allow others to share different views and 
opinions, as well as their vulnerability, and uniqueness.

5.   5.  A Laboratory for Personal Disarmament: The workplace becomes 
not only a place to earn a living, but a community where co-workers 
feel compassion and respect for each other as human beings. 
Employees embrace the skills, norms and rules for communicating in 
healthy and productive ways.

6.   6.  A Group that can Fight Gracefully: Co-workers deal with difficult 
issues promptly, and resolve conflicts with wisdom and grace. 
They listen and understand, respect each others' gifts and commit 
to struggle together rather than against each other.

 

"Does community imply a lack of structure or hierarchy?"

No.  Organizational hierarchy remains in place. However, 
there is a shift in understanding and practice of hierarchy. 
Hierarchy is viewed and based on efficiency, effectiveness 
and productivity rather than power. While hierarchical 
leaders and boundaries of authority are respected, there 
is a paradoxical sense that the workgroup or entire organization 
is a “group of all leaders.”

 

 

EXERCISES AND ACTION ITEMS:

* Attend a Community Building Workshop to experience 
firsthand the community building process and learn principles, 
tools and skills to use at work.

* Educate yourself and your team/workgroup on the stages 
of the community building process.

* Use “I” statements when communicating about difficult 
issues or sources of conflict.

* Use moments of silence to reflect, let go and get back 
on track during team meetings.

* Devote regular time to community building. Allow 
employees to voice concerns and air difficult questions 
with appropriate facilitation methods.

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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 Public Community Building Workshops, www.edgroody.com/events 
and www.edgroody.com/CBW.pdf.

Love and Profit, video with James Autry, http://www.jamesaautry.com/lp-vid.htm.

Ed Groody & Associates, Inc. offers Community Building Workshops 
and training for corporations and organizations, www.edgroody.com.

Key Associates offers leadership training and 
community visioning events.  Contact keyassocs@mindspring.com. 

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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES 
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A location for community-building: http://community-building.org/.

Seven principles, social media, and marketing
http://nowisgone.com/2007/10/01/the-seven-principles-of-community-building/.

M. Scott Peck's page http://www.amazon.com/M.-Scott-Peck/e/B000APXCQ4/ref=sr_tc_tag_2?qid=1270744724&sr=1-2-ent.

Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume 5, August 2001 - Spirit at Work
Volume 11, February 2002 - Teams
Volume 12, March 2002 - Facilitation
Volume 13, April 2002 - Trust & Integrity
Volume 18, September 2002 - Organizational Culture
Volume 20, November 2002 - Speaking from the Heart
Volume 30, September 2003 - Effective Listening
Volume 36, March 2004 - Valuing Diversity
Volume 37, April 2004 - Dialogue: Thinking Together
Volume 40, July 2004 - Building Community
Volume 46, January 2005 - Having Difficult Conversations
Volume 53, August 2005 - Relationship Building
Volume 86, May 2008 - Civility
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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS                              
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Autry, James A.  Love and Profit: The Art of Caring Leadership.
Harper Paperbacks, 1992.

Brown, Michael Jacoby.  Building Powerful Community Organizations: 
A Personal Guide To Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and 
Change the World.  Long Haul Press, 2007.

Chappell, Tom. The Soul of a Business: Managing 
For Profit And The Common Good, Bantam, 1996.

Jasen, Leonard A.  Community Building: Values 
for a Sustainable Future.  Praeger, 1997.

M. Scott Peck M.D. A World Waiting to be Born: 
Civility Rediscovered. Bantam, 1994.

M. Scott Peck M.D. The Different Drum: Community 
Making and Peace. Touchstone Book, 1998.

Marcic, Dorothy. Managing with the Wisdom of Love: 
Uncovering Virtue in People and Organizations. Jossey-Bass, 
1997.

Mattessich, Paul W. & Barbara Monsey.  Community Building: 
What Makes It Work; A Review of Factors Influencing Successful 
Community Building.  Fieldstone Alliance, 1997.

 

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