Community Strategy Insights

The latest insights on community strategy, technology, and value by FeverBee’s founder, Richard Millington

Finding The Self-Belief To Lead A Social Group

Richard Millington
Richard Millington

Founder of FeverBee

Many of us carry self-belief issues that stop us from being as good at  leading a social group as we should be.

We have feelings of not being good enough. We worry people won’t listen to us. We don’t lead because people might not follow. Worse yet, they might mock us for trying.

These often stem from negative high-school experiences. We might have internalized negative external events. If your class once laughed at your spoken essay, you might assume you’re bad at public speaking and avoid any similar situation.

If your group solely communicates online, you might just be able to go your entire career without confronting these issues.

Some people get into this work solely to avoid participating in live social groups.

I suspect, however, we sometimes restrict our groups to online events so we never have to tackle our own demons. Almost every group is better with live components. Every group that meets in person is stronger for it.

Doing this work well is going to force you to confront any self-belief issue you have.

Three things might help here.

First, you have to do this. You have to host that webinar for dozens of people, organize that live chat, host that event meet-up. No-one else will do this. It’s all on you. If you don’t do it, it doesn’t happen and your community is worse off. You owe it to them to do this. This really isn’t a choice.

Second, it’s far easier than you think. People want you to succeed, not to fail. Most people are happy to be told what to do if they believe you have their best interests at heart. Most people, especially in groups that they didn’t found, want you to lead them.

Third, there is more literature, resources, and coaches than ever to help you tackle any kind of challenge you have. I recommend:

I’ve seen people deal with their inner-demons and then lead the group.

I’ve seen people lead the group and find they’ve overcome their inner-demons.

Both approaches work. You probably have to pick one.

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