BY: Evelyn Summerville
CAREER
There’s an African proverb that I often refer to in my coaching practice: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” Women in leadership are periodically choosing between the two, going alone or going together. Sometimes it’s a choice, not for selfish motives, but for survival in spaces not really designed for women to succeed.
Here’s something to consider: Is the wisdom of the African proverb relevant in your leadership? Are you more concerned about personal gain or collective success? Is your leadership building silos or an ecosystem?
Silos, while efficient, are self-contained. Silo leadership is guarded, creates competition and promotes individual wins. An ecosystem operates differently. It is interconnected, adaptive and self-sustaining.
In leadership, ecosystem thinking creates conditions for everyone to flourish. It asks you to move beyond what you can accomplish alone and invest intentionally in what you can build together.
“Leaders who build ecosystems leave more than a legacy of personal achievement.”
Sometimes ecosystem leadership looks like recommending another woman for an opportunity you could have pursued yourself. Sometimes it means sharing credit publicly when no one would have known otherwise. Sometimes it looks like opening a door and making sure someone else knows how to walk through it after you.
Healthy ecosystems measure success by how many people become stronger because you were in the room.
- Connecting People: Intentional introductions and conversations create connection. People learn to value synergy, what can be generated when we exchange information, express ideas and collaborate.
- Sharing Resources: The scarcity mindset is dismantled when leaders practice sharing resources across their teams and networks. This is not just budget and headcount, but sharing access to boardrooms, offering visibility on personal platforms and demystifying institutional knowledge.
- Nourishing Each Other: Leaders committed to collective success go beyond self-care and promote community care. Candid feedback and public celebration are nutrients that keep your ecosystem thriving. Peer advisory structures create spaces for candid conversations and mutual support.
- Protecting Each Other: Leaders model defending the reputations of others, assuming good intentions and actively cultivating psychological safety. Protection also means speaking up when someone is being overlooked or unsupported.
Leaders who build ecosystems leave more than a legacy of personal achievement. They leave an empowered community to carry the torch farther than the leader could on her own. They leave women, and men, still leading long after the builder has moved on.
The African proverb was never just wisdom. It has always been a strategy. Go forward together.
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Evelyn Summerville is an executive, leadership & life coach. She harnesses the experiences and lessons learned during her time as a Fortune 500 and Non-Profit executive to support leaders in building confidence, facilitating change and empowering teams.
