Self-made success is the unicorn of the business world—there is no such thing. I add my “Amen!” to a 17th century poem by John Donne, which begins, “No man is an island, entire of itself.”

When a person takes his or her place at the top and surveys the path that was traversed to reach that pinnacle perspective, it would take a deep lack of awareness to filter out all of the mentors, encouragers, challengers, trainers, pioneers, and leaders who paved the way to that high perch.

Consider the amount of people that are involved in writing a simple note. You are not able to write, “I am self made,” without including generations of inventors, harvesters, manufacturers, marketers, and scholars all connected to the pen, paper, and language used in the act.

In the world of community development, it feels important to be mindful of the Irish proverb, “It is in the shelter of each other that the people will live.” Human beings do not thrive in isolation. We do not heal and achieve success, wonder and innovate, or dream and create apart from the shelter of the community of people we trust. We need to interact, have relationships, and know and be known in order to become the best versions of ourselves.

This is also true of civil society organizations.

LOOK FOR PART II THIS FRIDAY!