The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging

by Charles Vogl

Overview

This practical leadership guide offers seven timeless principles for building a supportive and inclusive community with a strong sense of purpose.

Many people think of “community” as something that happens by accident or emerges naturally over time. But in The Art of Community, Charles Vogl shows that there are specific principles that leaders can use to create or strengthen communities. Drawing on three thousand years of tradition, Vogl lays out the seven enduring principles that every community of every kind—whether formal or informal—must master to be effective.

Vogl describes the purpose of each principle and offers extensive hands-on tools for implementing them. He also shares ways to help communities remain healthy and life-affirming by avoiding toxic rigidity and exclusivity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626568419
Publisher:	Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date:	09/12/2016
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Charles H. Vogl has been working to build communities since his days as a Peace Corps volunteer. He now works with leaders in technology, finance, media, government, and social change organizations to help them create a meaningful difference. He is also a founding producer at Broken English Productions, creating works that have won several international awards.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction: The Inspiration for This Book 1

Part 1 Recognizing Community

1 Understanding Community 9

Part 2 Seven Principles for Belonging

The Seven Principles 31

2 The Boundary Principle 33

3 The Initiation Principle 43

4 The Rituals Principle 49

5 The Temple Principle 67

6 The Stories Principle 75

7 The Symbols Principle 81

8 The Inner Rings Principle 87

Part 3 Advanced Ideas

9 Distinguishing Religion and Avoiding Cult 115

10 Managing Community Face-to-Face and Online 123

Epilogue: Endings and Beginnings 137

Beginning with Acknowledgment 139

Last Thought 143

Resources 145

Appendix A Leader Worksheets 147

Appendix B Dinner Community Case Study 157

Notes 183

Acknowledgments 187

Index 189

About the Author 193

Editorial Reviews

The Art of Community is a powerful, practical, and modern articulation of, and advancement on, timeless wisdom. Emerging or veteran leaders who integrate these principles will build communities that are more resilient, passionate, and harmonious in the face of adversity and uncertainty. Flip to any page to find insight and inspiration.”
—Alan Price, Founding Director, Global Leadership Initiative, Harvard Business School, and author of Ready To Lead?

“A useful field guide to create durable and profound connections . . . An important undertaking, as isolation and loneliness are a root cause of the breakdowns all around us, including extreme violence.”
—Peter Block, author of Community and Flawless Consulting

"At last, here is an insightful guide to create the community you have envisioned for yourself and others."
—Richard Leider, best selling author of the Power of Purpose and Life Reimagined

“A brilliantly intentional, well-composed plan for engaging and developing communities. This book is both an inspiration and a field guide for those who wish to connect deeply and build the communities our world so desperately needs.”
—Thomas A. Kolditz, PhD, Brigadier General, US Army (ret.), and Director, Ann and John Doerr Institute for New Leaders

“This book is full of rich wisdom and simple tools to help make community real. Our mission statement includes the word ‘community,’ but I never truly understood what it meant until reading this book. Too often we declare a community around affiliation without digging into the shared values and care for one another that make a real community.”
—Jason Jay, PhD, Director, Sustainability Initiative, MIT Sloan School of Management, and author of Beyond the Choir

“A deeply thoughtful and compelling book that shares many insights with clarity, accessible examples, and ideas for implementation. I learned a lot.”
—Lawrence Levy, former CFO. Pixar Animation Studios; cofounder, Juniper Foundation; and author of To Pixar and Beyond

“Charles Vogl’s book is a lucid, ferociously intelligent, and readily accessible road map to building a more connected culture. Education about community and character has been subordinated in American education to myopic cognitive and commercial learning. The result everywhere around us is devastating, from unprecedented wealth disparities to rampant tribalism. This work points to a much-needed antidote.”
—Marty Krasney, Executive Director, Dalai Lama Fellows

“I’ve personally experienced the magic that Charles Vogl creates in powerful communities. People feel genuine belonging and connection. Now he has written down the essential principles so that others may experience this magic themselves. I cannot imagine a more important subject for a book in a society where so many of us hunger for connection and community.”
—Scott Sherman, Executive Director, Transformative Action Institute

“The Art of Community is an outstanding guide to creating and fostering the meaningful communities all of us need. As technology that allows us to physically detach from one another accelerates, it has become more important than ever to understand what community and belonging mean. Strong, mature communities benefit both individuals and humanity as a whole.”
—Jonathan Knowles, Explorer in Residence, Autodesk, and host of the Autodesk IDEAS series

“If you are tasked with bringing families, neighborhoods, or organizations together, read this book first. In The Art of Community, author Charles Vogl re-invigorates a vision of community and the importance of social bonds to our well-being. In place of our convenient and transient associations, Vogl tells us how to establish relationships that are more meaningful and enduring.”
—Michael O'Malley, author or coauthor of Every Leader Is an Artist, The Wisdom of Bees, and Leading with Kindness

From the Publisher