It’s true—community builders often see the immediate impact of their work, and they feel the love. The natural response is to keep ourselves necessary.
But we can easily forget that the core of a solid community culture is empowerment and ownership. And sometimes, our continued presence—however well-intentioned—can actually limit both.
When we’re always present, we may unintentionally reduce members' sense of agency. True community thrives when they feel it’s theirs.
i love this post - how do i get more info about the 15 person community engagement group and i would love the recording you referred to -
thanks Laura, Cindy Fabico, LMHC, LMFT cindy.sue.price@gmail.com
Cindy, I love nothing more than hearing from readers! Glad you enjoyed today's post. I'm happy to email you with the link to the recording.
You can read more about the Spring Community Foundations cohort here: https://laurazug.substack.com/p/the-1-reason-communities-struggle
And, here's a link to the landing page, too: https://www.laurazug.com/spring25-community-foundations
I'm of course happy to answer any questions. We'd love to have you!
yay! thanks so much Laura 😊
Great post, Laura.
It’s true—community builders often see the immediate impact of their work, and they feel the love. The natural response is to keep ourselves necessary.
But we can easily forget that the core of a solid community culture is empowerment and ownership. And sometimes, our continued presence—however well-intentioned—can actually limit both.
When we’re always present, we may unintentionally reduce members' sense of agency. True community thrives when they feel it’s theirs.