A different kind of business capital
December 3, 2008 · Print this post
This interview with economist John Helliwell in Rotman Magazine (the Rotman School of Management) reaffirms for me why it’s important that companies take a clear look at how they’re managing people, not just business:
The higher the degree of trust and willingness to share in a human-as-well-as-material respect across the organization, the better an enterprise will perform.
– Economist John Helliwell, speaking on the value of social capital in the workplace
If you’re a new manager, don’t be put off by the term social capital or the fact that the conversation ranges far beyond “strictly business” — read the interview for Helliwell’s insights into the direct connection between engaging with others (even when it takes work to bridge our differences) and positive impact on quality of life and business. What he’s talking about is the power of engaged relationships with the people around us: family, neighbors, and colleagues. When we connect in relationships that are based on helping, as opposed to controlling, each other, guess what? The community — whether it’s your village or your company — works better.
Managing is at its essence a network of individual relationships. Whether we manage well or poorly is a product of how we behave in those relationships. Every skill in the Humans At Work program is a behavior designed to help all your relationships at work be as clear, honest and productive as they can be: to build bridges across our differences so that we can all work together to achieve our common goals. That’s the essential definition of community, and these ideas of social capital as a driver of community success are important to every one of us.
So please, after you’ve read the interview, take some time to read more about Humans At Work. Download session details and find an idea that can help you at work, whether you’re a manager or not. These ideas are for everyone. Our workplace communities need managers — but the community is not for the manager, it’s for all of us. We can all benefit by making it stronger.
The future synthesis manager must “lead” people & manage things. Using Dr. danial Goleman’s “emotional intelligence” helps too
I like the term “synthesis manager.” It’s never made sense to me to talk about “leaders” and “managers” as if they were different roles — from my perspective, it all requires the same basic skill set. Clarity in vision, values and communication; effective decision-making; setting goals and priorities; helping people figure out how to do their part in the greater plan…. these are skills we all need from anyone in a position to direct or affect our work.