community – Patrick Mayfield

I felt like I had stepped into another world … and in several ways, I had. Here I was, with my adult son, Ben, visiting us from Los Angeles, and both of us, albeit strangers, were being honoured and celebrated by strangers.

We had come to Princes Park, the home of Dartford Football Club. Dartford (‘the Darts’) was about to play Hungerford Town in the National South league. And I was there to visit my friend and Outlier Group member, Alan Dean.

We were greeted warmly by the Chairman and staff, and a panel interviewed my son about what he had been doing in Los Angeles, and what it was like to live there. Then, our hosts gave us a tour of the stadium before the match started.

Ben was invited to join the welcome tunnel, applauding players from both teams as they trotted out onto the pitch. But the honour didn’t end there. As a final flourish before the game started, our hosts asked Ben to join them in the centre circle to pose in a photo opportunity with the match referee.

And who were our hosts? There were all teenage students from Kent schools!

They are part of a media team of a not-for-profit organisation called 4Roles4Goals; a company set up by Alan and his business partner, Nicola Coppen. The genius of 4Roles4Goals is that it adds value to Young People, Schools, the Community and Business – the four roles – working together.

I would say that there is another group that is impacted positively by this initiative: families. Before the match, I was talking to one of the parents. He described to me the transformation he saw in his daughter, and how she has grown visibly in confidence.

Before she was someone who preferred to be in the background, now she thinks nothing of going to the team and pulling out one of the players for an interview.

He went on to explain how his company had moved to Dartford, and his firm was one of the early commercial sponsors of the club, resulting in his company receiving over 30,000 positive tweets. Not bad business either!

As we drove away, Ben just shook his head in disbelief at how they had called him up as a VIP. It was a powerful illustration to me how we all need to be celebrated.

Also, there is something about our society thinking outside of the box, outside of the categories we make for ourselves. 4Roles4Goals shows that everyone can win.

In the video below, I’m in my garden in Oxfordshire. It’s spring and so much new life is coming up. I love this time of year. There is a riot of noise each morning from birds that have recently migrated to Northern Europe. And new plants are beginning to emerge.

But this post is about another kind of new life that is beginning to emerge.

For over a year now, I’ve been writing and working on what is that ‘X Factor’ in high performers, particularly in the arena of change. How do these high performers get their extraordinary results?

In the early part of this year, I was really encouraged by the Leading Yourself online workshop. Over about six weeks, we worked through some core material in my recent book, meeting weekly online to explore what the implications were for each of the group.

By the end of that time, we had bonded as a group. The class didn’t want it to end and asked to keep a monthly webinar going.

So I did some research and sought your opinions. If you are a subscriber to this site , you will know about the survey I have been running.

I asked about what you want, your challenges, and so on. Although results are still coming in, what is emerging is really interesting…

First, you are a wide-ranging group. Not many of you have job titles like ‘project manager’ or ‘change leader’. We have journalists and cyber-security experts, church workers and government officials. It seems that the secrets of great change leaders are applicable to us all.

Also, very few people have a single full-time job. Most of us have a portfolio of jobs. The 21^st century is upon us. This is the new normal.

Nearly everyone has a portfolio of jobs. The 21st century is upon us. Being a portfolio worker is the new normal.

Click to Tweet

However, what you want from me is fascinating, and caused me a little concern. It seems that you want two things:

Yes, you do want Community – a place to share and connect with like-minded individuals
Quick Wins – short, sharp ‘how-to’ guides. People want me to ‘cut to the chase’ and give them a condensed explanation, something that they can absorb in five or ten minutes.

Now, how do I do this?

After researching into this, I’ve come to the conclusion that I should offer you a private site, a place where people can access a members’ only discussions and forums, as well as exclusive content.

This is not something I set out to do. I was happy with merely writing, producing learning solutions and coaching one-to-one. But I am committed to your success and to offering you what you want.

So, I’ve been busy building the site. I’m not yet ready to launch it.

I’m excited.

You are taking me in an unexpected direction, and I’m already forming a vision of what this community will look like. I think it will be very powerful for us all.

As always, leave your comments below, or complete my online survey.

Better still, join the waiting list for the launch of this exciting new community.

Some of the resources now on our Positive Outlier Academy: