A way to describe what a group offers to an individual is to consider how the group makes power accessible to such an individual.

It’s rarely a direct power or one that one would have over another. It is a power delegated to the group and what it represents.

From the outside, groups are visible as entities that stand for something. However, this isn’t necessarily the reason an individual joins that group; they join based on what they perceive the group can help them with. Naturally, this idea will be confronted by the experienced reality in the group.

For example, trade unions will be joined because they can represent members’ desire for a better salary or job security. As long as the trade union serves that need, the individuals will remain loyal to the group.

Non-profit organizations represent a different category. Many exist to promote a specific cause and will be joined by individuals who believe in such a cause and want to contribute to it. This is just as true for organizations like JCI that serve young people as a space to experiment with their own leadership and the ability to serve society as a group. Or consider organizations like Rotary, Lions, or the like. They all provide individuals with a space to engage with peers beyond their jobs while establishing friendships and contributing to causes based on their joint efforts. Such groups create a space where people can transcend their ability, see their contribution to something bigger than themselves, and serve their need to belong to a group of like-minded people. It doesn’t matter that individuals join the group based on different needs or stay because of them. Groups serve various needs, and it is the individual’s responsibility to recognize how they are served. As long as an individual experiences the group as one able to satisfy his needs he will remain loyal to the group.

The power in such groups is to represent its members towards other entities and to provide a place to care for objectives that go beyond oneself. It is up to the leaders of such groups to notice the power of the group and care for it. They cannot expect individual members to explain what they are coming for, as much of it will also be unconscious.

But as groups now often try to serve individuals by doing what they may want, the group loses much of its power. Members are brought back to activities they can do independently from most groups and lose the connection.

When this happens, there is little left for the individual to be loyal to.