Community leaders: in order to get someone to stay, they first have to belong.
If your employees are leaving, or community members are visiting other options, or volunteers aren’t showing up as much, it’s likely due to a lack of belonging more than it is the shiny bells and whistles of a competitor.
But no one leaves somewhere they don’t belong to. They were never home in the first place.
The leader’s first task, then, is to create a sense of belonging well before the leader needs to create an argument to keep someone. And the work of belonging is ongoing, making sure each person finds connection and meaning as part of the community.
Make the case to stay long before they make the case to leave.
