One of my “problems” has always been that I just don’t enjoy competition that much. Oh, I compete with myself all the time to improve my personal best in any number of ways. But my own personal competition with the goal of beating a competitor or rival generally doesn’t do it for me- although I will say, “Go Panthers!” What does excite me is collaboration- working with other people toward a common goal and benefiting from that work creating a value greater than the sum of its parts- synergism.
I wrote earlier this week about meeting with Mooresville-South Iredell Economic Development Corp. Developers Council whose goal is to advance the economic development and health of the South Iredell area. That looks like a group that will be able to make a significant contribution to our area. Yesterday, I met with another local group of people in Statesville whose goal is to provide housing for Iredell citizens who are having difficulty with that aspect of their life. This group is called the Iredell Housing Continuum and is chaired by Scott Loudermelt of the local Iredell Habitat for Humanity office. Other folks there were from Wesley Community Development, Iredell Dept. of Social Services, Crossroads Healthcare, the Our Towns Habitat office, and Housing Opportunity Foundation, a part of the Charlotte Regional Realtor Assoc. which is why I was there as the Iredell board member of the CRRA. This group is looking for ways to improve the lives of local folks who need some assistance to either avoid homelessness or move to a safer, more agreeable situation. Although the group is too new to even have settled on any kind of mission statement, I could already see the magic happening within this group of people who were finding out what each can contribute and making connections for future activity in support of their individual and common goals. It’s going to be fun and satisfying seeing what these people can do as a collaborative group that would be difficult or impossible to do as individuals or individual organizations.
Our difficult economy is making things more challenging in many parts of our communities. Through increased collaboration we’re finding ways to overcome the effects of the negative economy, and making some excellent new friends in the process!
