I did my best to be objective about myself. I would love to have a partner in community who has the strengths I don’t have–mainly–financial management, and overseeing a large operation.

Thanks so much to Diana Leafe Christian for this resource. Diana was our coach in the beginning stages of community.

Shared by: DianaLeafeChristian.org • EcovillageNews.org •Diana@ic.org • 828-669-9702

Here is the article she contributed and I made comments about my strengths and weaknesses.

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Hank’s Five Characteristics and Skills of a Successful Founding-Community Group

Hank Obermayer lived in community in Germany, and is founder of Mariposa Grove Community in Oakland, California.

Because Hank was the sole founder — and funder — of Mariposa Grove Community, he knows first-hand what qualities and characteristics are needed to start and complete a successful community project.

He points out that these five things don’t often occur in the same person, so it’s usually easier to start a new community with a group, with various individual group members having these characteristics and skills. Working together they can accomplish the needed steps, tasks, and processes of starting a successful new community.

Vision. This is the ability to imagine what does not exist yet, believe it is possible to create it, and share this vision with others, so that they, too, will see it and believe this imagined reality is possible to create. (This is mostly a “heart skill.”)

Patricia: I have been a trendsetter and visionary since I left college 46 years ago at age 19 and traveled 13 months alone from Europe to Asia. Envisioning things that don’t seem possible is one of my favorite things to do! I love writing things called “harmony stories” or “future stories” where I pretend I am in the future and speak or write as if something has already happened. I started doing this about 35 years ago. 

Time. At least one person in the group will need to work part-time or full-time on managing the project. (This could also be accomplished by different people working part- time.)

Patricia: I live so simply, and have been blessed with a benefactress who has supported me in many ways for the past 4 years, so I need to work for money only about 10 hours (if that) a week. My kids are grown, and do not need me very much! Since my passion is building community, it is my main focus, and so I feel happy to invest my time in this project. Yes. I have time!

Financial/Administrative Skills. This not necessarily the same thing as having the necessary funds to buy and develop the property and pay other necessary expenses oneself, although this does happen sometimes. “Financial/Administrative Skills” also means the ability to skillfully acquire funds through loans, donations, or other means, and the skill and comfort level to deal effectively and responsibly with large amounts of money. It also means being able to prepare budgets and track funds through spreadsheets. Also, it’s the ability to manage a complex project, which includes understanding which necessary tasks and events need to happen at what times, and managing cash flow — how much money is collected and spent at each stage of the process. (This is a “head skill.”)

Patricia: I first entered leadership at age 14, being involved with student government and then church leadership, I have developed my administrative skills through the paid and volunteer jobs I have had, as well as managing a family. You can check out my resume here. 

However, managing money is my greatest weakness. I was fortunate to have someone help oversee the management funds that I was given by my benefactress when building the infrastructure of Wellspring. Although I can develop timelines and task assignment and project planning/management, I will need to find someone skilled in the money end of things. 

Organizational Skills. Knowing something about how organizations grow and change. (How groups deliberately increase their relevance and viability. —Wikipedia) Having a good sense of group process, organizational structure (such as committees, etc.), roles, accountability, leadership, and how all these factors change over time because of how people shift and how groups and organizations themselves transform. (A “head skill.”)

Patricia: I hope you can see by this blog that I have focused on the nuts and bolts of what community will look like. I am still organizing the blog so all is easy to find. I have to give credit to people like the Foundation for Intentional Communities and The Federation of Egalitarian Communitiesfor all the work they have done to share information. 

As for overseeing a large organization, I have little experience with doing such a thing. Since I plan on organizing a governance system where power is naturally and equally shared (for full members) there is really no need for an executive director type. I have had some experience with Sociocracy, and have studied it extensively. I feel confident that I can apply the principles especially since there are such great resources at http://www.sociocracy30.org and http://www.sociocracyforall.org

It helps that I am a great organizer! Professional, in fact. See my blog. 

People skills. This is the ability to understand and “read” people. The person who has good people skills is relaxed, amiable, and generally gets along well others. It involves having empathy and good will and excellent communication skills. (A “heart skill” and a “head skill.”)

Patricia: I have 30 years experience with Nonviolent Communication, and I have practiced empathic listening for 30 years. I have a lot of good will towards people who are authentic. I have little patience for people who have narcissistic tendencies, and I actually think this is a good trait to have! I love people, and since I am inviting people to come who have congruent values, and because there is a screening process to eliminate dishonest people,  I think my excellent communication skills will serve me well.

When Hank describes these five characteristics he always mentions the need for trust. “If other people in the Mariposa Grove project hadn’t trusted my skills and abilities in these areas it wouldn’t have worked,” he says. “And if these skills come from a mix of people, they need to really trust each other’s skills. And the other people in the core group must recognize and accept these people’s skills and roles too. This is utterly essential.”

Patricia: Trust building is one of my highest values. I  do my very best to be in integrity with everything I do in my life. I still cooperate with my two former husbands, and I’m on very good terms with my two grown children. You can read recommendations from people who have trusted here. 

As a professional organizer I have needed to be trusted by many people. See my blog (again) here.