The Art of Community + the inner rings.
My Worthy Goal — the thing that’s thrilling, important, and daunting for me right now — is a project about change in organizations called Change Signal.
You may have seen me talk about this already. It’s centered around a podcast. I love hosting a pod, because it gives me an excuse to have curious, nosy conversations with wise people who otherwise would likely not talk to me.
The other day, for Change Signal, I interviewed Charles Vogl, author of The Art of Community. The book’s subtitle gets to the heart of what it’s about: Seven Principles for Belonging.
For Charles, a community is “a group of individuals who share a mutual concern for one another’s welfare” and of course …
Ding! Ding! Ding! I started thinking of The Conspiracy and how we use his principles to make it such a powerful, encouraging, and intimate space.
(Vogl’s book was one of several that Ainsley and I read when we were designing this community.)
Some of the principles are straightforward enough to understand, such as The Initiation Principle (the importance of how people are welcomed in — our onboarding is truly exceptional) and the Temple Principle (create sacred space for special purposes — as a place to gather … we have several of these).
But one that I hadn’t considered in a while was the Inner Rings Principle, which unpacks the structure of a strong community.
He has an image of five concentric circles, with “Principal Elders and Skilled Masters” being in the middle, and then expanding outwards through Senior Members, Members, Novices, and Visitors.
A diagram like that implies a hierarchy. It’s an easy enough assumption that Principal Elder (which, in The Conspiracy, is me) sits at the top, and the things cascade down from there.
But we’ve worked hard to challenge that in The Conspiracy.
From the early days, having me at the center as the “guru” was NOT what I wanted.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my role as a teacher and encourager.
But a big part of my work and the work of The Conspiracy is inviting people to claim their own agency:
To be brave, to claim their resourcefulness, to build connection, to try things and keep going when things are hard, to celebrate and to mourn, to become the next best version of who they already are.
And in this claiming and doing alongside each other, the community is built. Wisdom, encouragement, witnessing, and insight flow back and forth between all the rings.
Working on a big transition, dream, or Worthy Goal is what brings people to The Conspiracy.
Making progress on that goal encourages people to stay.
But it’s the community — a place where you’re seen and supported — that has become the deep magic.
The Conspiracy is a place to keep going on the things that matter most — and not have to do it alone.
The doors to this treasure of a community open just a few times a year. Right now, your best move is to add your name to the waitlist.
This community might just be the thing you didn’t know you were missing (and what you might need most right now).
