Community Building: The Nuts and Bolts of Community Building Activities, Ideas, and Strategies

Joining together in a community of like-minded people is one of the most transformational experiences we can create together. Positive communities change our lives and contribute to helping the world at large. There is an art to building a positive and sustainable community. It takes a willingness to 'Communicate with the intention to connect.' It also takes an openness to 'Give to the group in order to receive from the group.'

 The following article offers important reminders and a helpful blueprint to create sustainable and thriving community. This article was written by Bruce Terrell.

Bruce Terrell is a visionary pioneer in the areas of leadership, teamwork, political change and sustainable community. His article is shared here with love and permission by Michael Alperstein.

I recently participated in a compelling discussion with 15-20 folks about what it takes to develop communities that can last long term. In this discussion, we shared many good insights on what makes it difficult for some communities to survive and thrive long term.

As we talk about the problems communities have, we have an opportunity to model new solutions as we are having that conversation.


"The quickest and most efficient way to resolve what we are calling "a problem" is to move into the domain where it does not exist and vibrate at the frequency of that domain. In this, we are getting out of the way and Being the Way instead." ~Bruce Terrell

This philosophy strongly applies to the issues that come up in efforts to create community.

No matter what kind of community we are building (online communities, conscious communities, family-oriented communities, etc.) when building community, it is very important to explore what questions we could hold as a group to focus our conversation and create an even more potent synergy. Communities thrive when the people involved come together with a shared purpose and posing supportive questions to the group is a powerful way to start fine-tuning this purpose.

Here are some questions I suggest as a focus to hold when building or strengthening a community:

"How can we best model healthy community now, in the way we are relating with each other right now?"

How can our individual actions best serve the collective?

What individual wants have emerged in a co-created field of infinite possibilities?

What common desires have emerged?

What is the unique quality, feeling-tone, or spark and sparkle amidst this particular group?

When you pose such questions to your group, listening and sharing with accepting ears, it tightens the group and supports cohesion.

In the discussion I had recently, we chatted in general terms about how the un-evolved aspects of ourselves makes sustainable community more difficult. This, indeed, is a useful place to put our focus.

Yet, even more interesting, for me, is our looking really closely at how the same dynamics that are happening "out there", may be happening in subtle or perhaps not subtle ways inside of ourselves as we are in conversation.

In this self-reflective awareness we can then catch our small-self habits and not "act out" with them as we are participating in the group dynamic. Then we can beam the change we want to see in the moment. Then we are able to vibrate the frequency of the solution we seek.

In a sense, how we show up anywhere is how we show up everywhere. Our conversations about community can be "a rubber meets the road" laboratory where we can learn a great deal about ourselves.

My partner Marien Grace and I sometimes call this "The Conversation About the Conversation."

And that is one of the keys to sustainable community.  You need to be willing to see the big picture and explore all the nuances and edges.

In each moment, we each have our own evolutionary edges to explore. Our chats can be a great place to practice awareness and mindfulness and hone the skills we would like to hone.

Also, when we see our own individual edges and challenges we can be transparent about them to the group and get support with them. Holding no secrets is a key to the success of any community.

"A true world leader welcomes and values the contribution of everyone."

~ Bruce Terrell

In a working community, each member keeps on asking themselves how they can individually be a better community-player. We hold our focus on what we can give to our community, not just on what we can get from it. The quality of a community is hugely a reflection of the quality of the individuals in the community.

When we keep our focus on the "We" of the group, the greatest potential of the group and our individual "I" needs can be best met as well. Staying tuned into the needs of the collective whole is a very nuts and bolts awareness practice.

The members of any group or community always have different needs, interests & passions in the moment. This was evident in the discussion I mentioned earlier when we sometimes had many different dialogues going on at the same time. We each were going for what we wanted in the moment. As I see it, these differing needs is not what causes problems in communities and groups.

Problems come only when we are not able to have a context to hold the content of our diversity.

The solution is discovering a 'way of being' where we can both embrace variety and also stay true to our own deepest wantings in the moment. Our capacity to do this is a practice that can be cultivated.

There are times in the many communities I have been a part of when we were going down a certain road (and I was really into that focus) and then the energy would shift suddenly to a different topic! Life has a way of doing this, doesn't it?

For me, it was as if we had started to drill a deep well to something incredibly potent and valuable and then we left that well to go elsewhere and start a new well. Yet, it was obvious that each person was going were they had the greatest interest in going.

I see that I am most useful to community when I can just let the changes be and celebrate them... at the same time coming back to the well where I think the greatest gold is.

Notice in yourself an intention to say: "This is a place I can Be differently." 

That inner stance will help your team or group enormously.

When you know where you are, the next steps for the group or team unfold more easily.

Every community member has their own unique next steps in supporting the group field.

What are yours?

Another edge for this idea of "me" is showing up and being a leader and creating platforms where the specific and particular wells I am wanting to deepen can be deepened. This is, in a sense, what I am doing in this article.

I would like for us to have the opportunity for more conversation, for those who are interested, where we can more deeply explore what it takes to create a context for diversity. Please contact me on Facebook to continue this conversation. The URL is below. I would love your input about what I have written here. What are your insights about creating sustainable community?  I want to hear. 

I would like to create a platform where we can have more conversation about how we engage in conversation, a platform where we can FOCUS on how to maintain focus in the group field.

I feel certain that we can BE the radically unique souls that we are, and we can still bask in the warmth of community fellowship!

How can we embody sacred community in how we relate with each other here and now? How can we BE the solution to every problem that communities have?

We can all "Go to the domain where the solution already exists!".

This article was written by Bruce Terrell and shared with permission by Michael Alperstein.

Bruce Terrell offers Breakthrough Coaching. He loves being a catalyst for new possibilities. He is here for magical co-creation and collaboration. He welcomes you to contact him on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/bruceterrell?sk=info

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