What's On Our Minds This Week
Hello Leader and welcome the start of a new month and a new week.

This month in the C Factor we are focused on the importance of COMMUNITY. This word community is the inspiration for the C Factor. We know that established leaders: managers and supervisors, team leads and directors want and need community as much as anyone else in your organization. 

A sense of belonging in a community of like-minded people is a critical aspect of overall job and life satisfaction. With the realities that Covid19 persists, this need to belong is being challenged at every turn. When we can't gather together every day in our work and social lives, we miss those face-to-face exchanges that build interpersonal bonds and trust. 

Before 2020, loneliness was an epidemic. I wrote about it in 2019, having no idea what was ahead for all of us. Here is a little bit of what I wrote: 
Belonging is one of our most fundamental human needs.

According to the government agency, Health Resources and Services Administration, loneliness is a national epidemic. They note, “Loneliness and social isolation can be as damaging to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” This is felt across all demographics—gender, age, education, income, and job status. People are lonely. The numbers are discouraging with the American Sociological Review reporting one in four people say they have no confidantes at all and the average person has only one close friend (which is better than nothing). 

I recently had someone friend request me on Facebook that I didn’t recognize. She also sent me a message. It read, “Hi, I met you through __________ at bunco once, but lately I have seen you all over town. I kept thinking, I know her, right? I’ll say hi next time. Maybe we’re meant to know each other. Anyway, hi! Wanna be friends? LOL” 
I loved her courage to reach out to me and ask to be my friend. We haven't gotten together face-to-face (thanks Covid19) but we regularly interact with one another now on Facebook. 

A sense of belonging is more critical than ever. 

We need to be in relationship with other people and have spaces where we can openly share and support one another. As a leader in your organization, you feel the responsibility of creating a sense of belonging for your people, but don't forget you need it too! You need to belong. But all too often, your ability to experience "belongingness" within your team is hard, you are after all the boss. 

Mandy Gilbert, writing for Inc. Magazine notes, "Leadership and loneliness go hand-in-hand. As the person in charge, it's inevitable that you'll be treated with a different regard than when you were a regular member of the team. Those daily 3pm coffee breaks and happy hour invitations are no longer being extended, and your water cooler conversations have become trivial small talk. You're no longer one of the gang. You're one of them."

Being "one of them" can leave you feeling like you are on the outside of things. Where then do you find your sense of belonging? To get started, consider these questions.

  1. Do I have a place/people where I can talk openly/freely about my challenges, concerns, needs, and frustrations?
  2. Do I have people in my network who can commiserate with me because they have "been there, done that" and can offer listening, advice, and support?
  3. What are three things I wish I had someone to talk to about?
 
Now get curious about how you can find a sense of community and belongingness for yourself. 

  • Click HERE to read about "Why it's so lonely at the top." 
  • Set a time to chat informally with three people who are established leaders this week. Just chat. No agenda, no results to chart. Just connect with them
  • Learn about how we are creating a community for established leaders in 2021. Click HERE

You need community and a sense of belonging to do your job well. Don't try and go it on your own. The C Factor Community was designed with you in mind. 

Libby 

P.S.: Want to schedule one of your chats with us? We would love that. Click HERE to set a time to talk with us about how we can help you find a sense of community and belonging in 2021. 
What's on your mind this week?

Reply to this email or hop on over to your favorite social media channels and tell us — What's on your mind this week?
C Factor Community | www.cfactorcommunity.com