Maggie Ullman is co-founder of the Southeast Sustainability Directors Network
Two of us started a network because we wanted to magnify our voice through building a team with aligned values and we wanted to help the South catch up in terms of urban sustainability by building capacity in our region. Our one allowance: permission to make things up as we go. It wasn’t until reading Connecting to Change the World that I realized our allowance is actually the bedrock of our network.
What does it mean to “make it up as you go” when stewarding a network? The book’s “Bonus Track” with advice to network engineers articulates my favorite points on this concept very well:
1) Don’t dictate the network’s purpose; co-create it with potential start-up partners. We didn’t need to have complete clarity on our networks purpose, in fact if we did we risked building a group of people who may participate but not feel true ownership. Co-creation of a network isn’t something you achieve at a place in time during a strategic planning session, it is something that evolves.
2) Be open to surprises; don’t try to pin everything down. Surprises can present risk, which can be scary. My tendency is to think through the potential risk and plan to avoid it. In network building I’ve learned surprises can be hidden opportunities. For example if we pinned down the content focus of the network to green infrastructure and energy efficiency programs we would have completely missed the opportunity to share knowledge, align strategies, and produce guidance on green business recognition programs, an interest that emerged through member conversation at an annual meeting.
3) Lead, but allow others to co-lead in organizing the network. This is the hardest one for me. Traditional leadership can look like a strong person who is out in front paving the path for others to follow. The more leaders from a network who participate in creating the purpose and do the work to organize the members, the more generative the network is.