The Power of Community

On a recent flight, I was reflecting on the results of my March Madness bracket. Like nearly 40 million other people in the country, I failed to pick out the upsets wrought by Furman, Princeton, and Fairleigh Dickinson in the 1st round. Watching these performances by underdogs highlights that results are not simply the application of talent – it is the coalescence of attitude and skills around razor-sharp focus on a goal. The combination of uncommon circumstances leads us to call these unexpected results “upsets”, which begs the question: What is key to upsets that enable some teams to marshal winning combinations over stronger opponents?

Leadership is a fundamental component to answering this question. Somebody must first define the goal, then sell the team members on why they should – and how they can – achieve victory. In creating a shared vision and path to get there, a community is established. According to the dictionary, community is “the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common”.

When we, as business leaders, are able to create community within our organizations, we also establish the launchpad for upsets in our industry. It turns out the right EHS software can be a great platform for this condition of sharing. It can be used to put a consistent, unifying message out to an organization, and then to re-enforce the message with easy, repeatable actions that all employees can be a part of. Managers can use the reporting in such a tool to provide genuine and fast feedback. This is also a critical part of building community as it provides encouragement and builds the trust needed for positive participation.

Life is full of examples of community cohesion rising to overcome long odds of victory. From the rout of the larger Persian army by Greek warriors at Marathon in 490 BC, to the United States hockey team’s Miracle on Ice in 1980, underdogs can win against long odds when they come together under leadership and a common purpose.

We can help you create a positive, cohesive community of safety-aware employees with much better odds than the Greeks faced! If you are ready for a useful tool that will help step up your safety performance and build community with a shared vision, give us a call.