Meet Mboka Jo, a healthy, curious three-month-old gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

Mboka means community — home place, village and his name carries a story.

His mother, Gladys, arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2013 at just four weeks old. She had been rejected at birth and needed intensive care – around-the-clock care. Handlers and volunteers stepped in to nurture her — not in a way that created dependence, but in a way that prepared her for independence.

When she was strong enough, she was released into the gorilla habitat. Jo, a mature male silverback, took her under his wing. He integrated her into the troop. He did what strong leaders do — he made space, provided protection, and ensured she belonged.

Gladys stayed.

Fast forward thirteen years. In September 2025, Gladys gave birth to Mboka Jo. Those who knew her story quietly wondered: What kind of mother would she be?

She is thriving.

She protects him.

She cleans him.

She keeps others at a distance when needed.

She is attentive, steady, strong.

When you visit the habitat today, you see none of the early struggle. You see a capable mother and a growing baby.

The strength you’re witnessing was formed in community. Watching her, I was reminded of something we don’t say often enough in leadership circles:

No one becomes strong alone.

Not in the wild.

Not in business.

Not in life.

Many high-performing leaders pride themselves on self-sufficiency. Especially the driven. The bold. The ones who carry a lot. But self-made is mostly a myth. Independence is almost always the product of interdependence.

Gladys did not raise herself. She was formed by handlers who showed up daily. By volunteers who cared. By Jo, who ensured her place in the troop. And now she is strong enough to nurture the next generation.

Community is not built through good intentions. It is built when people show up fully — consistently, vulnerably, and with the courage to let others matter. I’ve seen what happens when community fractures — and I’ve seen what becomes possible when it holds.

Some of us were raised in strong villages.
Many of us were not.

But every leader has the opportunity to build one.

If you believe leadership is proven by how much you can carry alone, you will eventually build a culture of isolation. If you believe leadership is about creating environments where people are known, supported, and challenged to grow — you build resilience. You build Mboka.

The strongest leaders I know are not the ones who stand alone. They are the ones who create spaces where no one has to. In a world that rewards independence, performance, and personal brand — it’s easy to become a “me.”

But real strength is built in the “we.”

So let me ask you:

Which one are you building?

Are you leading as a me…

or as a we?