I was having a drink with my friend, when she asked “what does it take to be a hero?” My idea was to make it seamless for her to understand what ‘hero’ means in its literal context. So I gulped down a glass of water and looking into her eyes, I answered, “‘Hero’ is a fancy title but many do not imagine the hard work behind it”. Heroes are serial risk-takers. Their courage and resilience enable them to attain the level of greatness that makes many people envy their existence. Heroes are servants who give hope to humanity and show that so much is possible”
Community Ninjas are like heroes. They serve, volunteer, take risks and encourage other people to be responsible in their chosen careers.
I find community building fascinating when it possesses the true vision of building a competitive tech ecosystem. Ingressive for Good has paved the way for many young stars to build communities and demonstrate their potential by providing them with tech skills, soft skills and knowledge that can help them impact and contribute to the development of Africa and their direct environment, socially and economically through tech.
To become a community ninja with a great prospect, you must know the actual reason you want to be a change-maker and why your courage is needed to achieve this success. This article is written from the perspective of a community ninja in 2020, who has strived so hard to attain excellence despite all odds. We all learnt a lot of lessons from the pandemic. We learned how to improvise, adjust and do things differently by leveraging digital tools to increase our advocacy and impact.
How to Find Your Why
Knowing why you want to be a Community Ninja (a change maker) makes the job 50% easier. As an aspiring community ninja, you must understand the community beyond the basic activities of organising events and webinars. A thriving tech ecosystem increases collaboration and growth and you should see yourself as the fuel that drives this thriving community. Think deep about what fills up your fuel, what inspires you and why do you want to lead a community? What legacy do you want to leave in your community?
How to be a Community Ninja
Knowing why you should be what you want to be is good, but knowing how to be that thing is great. Here are 4 essential ways you can be a community ninja with good prospects:
- Be a Good Communicator and Inspirer – Use quality communication skills to create a healthy relationship within your local community. This helps you to narrate stories that can inspire innovations. The easiest way to communicate and inspire your community is by speaking to them in clear ways that are easy for them to understand and by listening to their concerns and feedback. You can also leverage on publication sites, tech trends, blogs etc., to learn how to inspire your community.
- Improve Your Education – Modern knowledge is essential. You must learn how to organise best practice events that are tailored to what your community needs. You should also reach out to academics around you, create collaborative projects to nurture and attract the best talents. One of the ways to do this is by being part of the I4G Network, join here.
- Encourage Team Building Ethics – You can’t do it alone. You should encourage people to join you in achieving your common goals. Create programs that allow groups of innovators to meet and share resources among themselves. Fuel an environment that encourages collaboration and sharing.
- Networking – Create programs that allow members of your community meet investors, potential mentors, other entrepreneurs and people they look up to.
Building a thriving tech ecosystem is the duty of a true community ninja. And in return, the ecosystem rewards you with more knowledge, recognition and network with top investors and innovators around the world.
How can Ingressive For Good Help?
If you are interested in being a community ninja, Ingressive For Good circle provides resources for aspiring community ninjas like you who are willing to help spread the gospel of tech in their various cities and campus. The circle which is made up of Africans who are passionate about tech and leveraging it to solve local problems that scale. Join the HACK community here.