In their book, The Art of Neighboring, Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon encourage us to build genuine relationships right outside our doors. I love their cool intro video. You can check it out HERE.
“Neighboring,” what is it? It’s the art and science of getting to know the people around you. You encounter people where you live (houses, duplexes, apartments/condos, other), at work, where you play and shop – people are everywhere. So, everywhere is your neighborhood, and everyone is your neighbor. This isn’t rocket science, but it does require intentionality, time, and effort. Mix in some genuineness, care, kindness, and love; and you have the recipe for neighboring.
My wife and I recently moved into an apartment community to become Apartment Life Coordinators. Apartment Life is an organization that works with apartment owners and property managers to build community. Our tagline is, “We put unity in community.” We are all about building genuine relationships in the community and doing neighboring where we live. So how do we neighbor?
We host two community-wide events (aka parties) every month. We do between 30 and 40 welcome visits and check-in visits each month. We invite people to eat with us, play games with us, hang out in common areas, and we show up when they have a need. Yep, it takes time and money, but the return on our investment (ROI) is priceless. Our mission is to connect, care, and call others to do the same. This neighboring thing is really important in today’s world. People need a neighbor.
This entire concept of neighboring is founded on the words of the Master Neighbor, Jesus. When someone asked Jesus what the most important commandments were, He said, loving God with all your heart, mind, and soul is number one, and number two is love your neighbor as yourself. There is a lot of self-love today, but loving others is key to living life to the fullest. I encourage you to follow Jesus’ words and start neighboring where you are!
Doing Good at Work educates, equips, and empowers individuals, businesses, organizations, and non-profits to build people, businesses, and communities based on the truth. We are all about neighboring at work and in the marketplace. We are committed to helping people discover and learn to be good neighbors by doing good. Click HERE to learn more and get started. What kind of neighbor do you want to be? Contact us today.
Neighboring Together,
Boomer
Dr. Boomer Brown, Ph.D., is the CEO of Doing Good at Work. Doing Good at Work is a 501(c) 3 organization that functions like a business. We desire to “Make People Better” because we know better people make better businesses, and better businesses make a better world. Learn more: https://doinggoodatwork.com/