When I was the chief executive of GIA, I tried for years to achieve the unity of our people.  I felt unity was the ultimate goal of bringing people together around a common purpose.  It was a noble objective, but an unachievable one.  Given the diversity of people, varying backgrounds, and strong viewpoints of so many – all of which were quite legitimate – I chose a different path.  I concluded that what we should strive for was a sense of community amongst our global population.

Unity has a way of marginalizing clear and open dialogue.  It can foster a sense of over-cooperation, where people are afraid to disagree or offer opposing points of view.  The risk is ending up with a group of “yes people,” which is the last thing a leader wants.  I’m not saying we should forsake coming around a fundamental direction.  But what I didn’t want was everyone agreeing with everyone just to keep the peace.  Creating a sense of community became a much more realistic and achievable goal.

It seems to me that this same sense of coming together around a common purpose and fundamental direction is what businesses need, and what our world needs, now.  We shouldn’t pretend to never disagree.  But we should seek openness, civil debate, and consensus-building direction.  Community of this kind becomes a platform for reconciliation and mature cooperation.

Community is bigger than individual egos.  It fosters a healthy work environment in businesses, and a healthy social environment amongst divergent groups.  It encourages people speaking to others, confronting issues, and solving problems in a thoughtful and professional manner.  Conflicts and differing opinions are unavoidable, but community keeps such conflicts from going underground and creating unnecessary tension.  Community builds up rather than tears down, and becomes a model for genuine leadership in business and society.

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