One for All and All for One

9/11/2001. I was supposed to be at the Pentagon that day. Just an hour before I had planned on leaving my building, I was pulled into another meeting. I remember walking into the conference room, as the first plane hit the Twin Towers. We thought it was an accident. We soon learned differently.

Throughout my career, I experienced times when our community came together as one and worked seamlessly to achieve our goals. “9/11” surpassed anything I had experienced previously. Personal preferences were put to the side, factions disappeared, levels dissolved, everyone coalesced into a single unit. There was both unity and synergy.

How many times does that happen in life? The recognition that there is something greater than you that needs to be done and that you can’t do it alone? We’ve been brought up to believe in individual strengths and accomplishments. Yet, as we really step into our leadership, we discover the value of a community aligned for impact. The weeks and months after 9/11 were the greatest example of this for me.

We don’t have to wait for a life-altering event to have the same effect. Creating a vision of what can be, and engaging others in that vision can make it a reality. Just remember that it will take time and effort to transform your horizons, so stay with it.

This Week: Take a moment and put your ego over on the couch. As you think about your life and those that you interact with daily, what matters? Ask them for their take. What do you align on? What can be built on that? How does that make you feel? Experience the sense of community that evolves. It will be worth it.

In Next Week’s Post: We will explore movement and what a community can create.