Tom KrieglsteinFounder, Global Keynote Speaker, Swift Kick Leadership · Founder and Award-Winning Keynote Speaker at Swift Kick Leadership

Meet the Unofficial Leader Who United an Office

Name: Meet the Unofficial Leader Who United an Office
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T15:45:50+00:00
Duration: 1 min 23 s
Channel: Tom Krieglstein
Description: In this short YouTube talk, Tom Krieglstein reflects on his experience at New Work City, an early New York coworking space, where a colleague named…

17 Jun 2025 · 1 min

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1:23

In this short YouTube talk, Tom Krieglstein reflects on his experience at New Work City, an early New York coworking space, where a colleague named Sabina informally organized Friday happy‑hour gatherings. Though Sabina held no formal title, she became the de‑facto community leader by knowing everyone, distributing drinks, and acting as a hub of information. Tom uses this anecdote to illustrate a broader point: formal titles do not guarantee leadership, and the most influential leaders are often those who build relationships and do the relational work behind the scenes. He encourages listeners to look beyond titles, recognize the true community leaders, and leverage them to boost member engagement.

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Swiftkick used to work out of this co working space called New Work City. It was one of the original co working spaces in New York City. Amazing community, tons of fun. And one of the cool things they do is every Friday they used to have this sort of like, happy hour that would lead us into the weekend. Sabina, who used to work on my team, she would organize the happy hour. She'd, like, start pouring little drinks for everyone, and she'd go around and give it to all the different companies that were there. People knew Sabina. She knew everyone. One point she was like, I'm kind of like a leader here because I know what everyone's up to. They know what I'm up to, and I could probably say something and everyone would listen. By no means did Sabina have a title of working at Newark City. And it got me thinking. In any community, there are those who have the title of leadership, and then there's those who are actually the leader. Just because you have a title does not mean that you are a leader. And just because you don't have a title doesn't mean you are a leader. Some of the strongest leaders I know within a community that have the most amount of influence are not the ones who have the title. They're actually the ones who are out there doing the work, building relationships, connecting with the community. So think about within your community, who has the title, who doesn't, and who are the true leaders? This is Tom helping you to create the engagement on your dance floor so you can engage your members. Take care. Talk to you soon.