strategic. Impact networks build on the life force of community—shared principles, resilience, self-organization, and trust—while leveraging the advantages of an effective organization, including a common aim, an operational backbone, and a bias for action.

People who hosted successful networks approached their communities with an openness and their own curiosity. They embraced experimentation and a “growth mindset.” They also took specific steps to make their communities happen in pursuit of a shared purpose.

Fundamentally, the role of network leaders is to help diverse groups find the shared purpose that unites them, to foster self-organization, and to coordinate the actions that emerge so that they inform and reinforce one another.