Community, that is.
It’s Day 1 of the 10-day Business Book Proposal Challenge and one of the first tasks – an ease-you-in-gently sort of a task – is to introduce yourself, your business and your book idea in the group. I’ve spent much of the day responding to each one, but then after a few hours the magic happened, as it always does. People began reading each others’ posts, and commenting on books that particularly appealed to them, or offering suggestions for new angles, or even, in one case, offering themselves as a ‘bum-kick buddy’ (you can call it an accountability partner if you prefer, but I like the alliteration).
Every time it gives me a delicious shiver of delight – I create the challenge and the space for it all to happen, and I like to think I set the tone, but then so quickly it blossoms into something so much richer and more powerful than I could make it on my own.
I can already see there will be friendships made in this group, maybe even professional partnerships, and that those who are stepping up to introduce themselves and interact will be the ones who get the most out of the challenge, and certainly the ones most likely to complete it.
I remember Bryony Thomas talking about this in her Extraordinary Business Book Club interview, that she had a line in the business plan that said ‘Community’, but that until it happened she had no idea that that would be a living, breathing, richly rewarding thing that would have a life and dynamic all its own.
It’s going to be an amazing few days. Bring it on.