Are Villages Born or Made?

by Stan

I know this is more commonly a question asked about leaders, but it seems appropriate given our desire to encourage others through our example. Just as with leaders, the answer to this question is most likely, “Both”. You see, the most successful leaders must possess certain innate qualities that one simply cannot learn… desire, passion, drive, imagination, caring, etc. But those are not enough. Leaders must also learn communication, visioning, prioritization, strategy, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, one can become a competent leader by learning the X’s and O’s, but truly brilliant leadership is revealed when developed skills are enlivened with natural traits… they compliment one another.

So it is with villages. For a village to be truly remarkable the villagers must share certain innate, fundamental values… spirituality, family, health, education, etc. It is these values upon which the village is built. These are the ties that bind. Without these basic building blocks, it is impossible to find the common ground required for sustainable relationships. That is, after all, what a village is… relationships. I can only imagine that absent these common values, the village would be filled with frustration, confusion, close-mindedness and overall conflict. In other words, it would be the exact antithesis of a village.

Once villagers have identified and gravitated toward this common value set, the real work can begin and the true value can be realized. Our values offer the backdrop for the group norms we must establish and the behaviors that we must learn to exhibit. Over time we learn what is acceptable and what is out of bounds. Through the process of becoming a village and building those relationships with fellow villagers, you learn what buttons not to push and what paths not to cross. A note of caution, however… villages that are built solely upon group norms and organizational rules (learned activities devoid of shared values) can become very stark and disingenuous. Rather than functioning from a position of authentic admiration and sincere empathy, villagers operate from a position of pretense and showmanship.

In the final analysis, there is no single formula for establishing a successful village. They must be grounded on shared values (born) and evolved through shared experiences (made).