A brief spoken reflection by Steve D Valentine explaining his concept of a "ladder community": he invites people who will both accept help and, after being helped, pay it forward to help others. He contrasts this with people who act as "ankle weights," taking support without reciprocating.
The community I'm building is a ladder community, which means I'm intentionally inviting you into my community because I believe that you are willing, if I help you, you will absolutely help the next person coming in, because that's the only way to build it. Because I cannot surround myself with people that are going to be ankle weights. And too many times we go in, you're like, oh, you're going to be so great. And then they just want to hang on to your ankles. They want to take everything, and then they go.
It’s Not What Your House Is Worth; It’s What It Can Do for You (Pause, Identify, Respond)
