The sense of belonging and alignment has become a top emotional quotient in life today. After the pandemic shock, ‘people who need people are the luckiest people in the world’ (Taken from the iconic song sung by Barbara Streisand and written by Bob Merrill). I had written on the subject of social mindset in this column in February this year but 8 months later I find that the relevance has shifted upwards and this mindset has raised its bar in effective leadership and living. In my article written earlier I had identified three basic steps to acquire the social mindset. These were to develop a Deep understanding of human beings, creating a fun environment and increasing your social quotient.
People are humans after all and today’s social mindset lays emphasis on not just pushing other people on results and outcomes but using emotional aptitude to inspire better work output and impactful outcomes. So, the focus is on people rather than on process, on how their job description is beyond what is listed, specific but with a vision on how they as individuals contribute to the growth of the organisation. Building inclusivity where each individual matters.
Some steps to raise the bar on the commendatory social mindset.
Value every individual
Although you will find no statues of teams and committees, bigger work can only be achieved through teams where every team member contributes to the overall purpose with intensity and dedication. The best version output of every team member comes from giving them wings to fly in their job responsibilities but everything starts by putting the right person in the right place. The right skills are important but what is more important today is cultural alignment. Correct selection and smart placement are the basic fuels for energising the individual. However, depth comes from commitment and therefore you need to value every individual. Understanding the individual and what makes them unique is important. That’s when the individual in turn feels wanted and develops a true sense of bonding. While induction today is focussed on making the new employee understand the organisation, it should be reinvented so that the organisation also understands the employee as much in depth.
Create an organisation purpose community
Most organisations ensure that their vision, mission, purpose is well created and even communicated. But to convert these bigger picture goals through a commendatory social mindset into behaviour, it is key that from employees or teams they become an organisation purpose community who live these values and beliefs. For this each individual needs dedicated time to firstly understand the organisational purpose, then relate to it and then live it. A ‘purpose buddy’ is a good start when someone joins who actually ensures the transition from just words of the purpose to actually practice. The organisation purpose then comes to the forefront as culture. The logic of curation of the organisation purpose becomes important as adoption thrives when logic is crystal clear. Some large organisations with large masses of human capital who have divisions have an organisation purpose and a purpose of the division they work in.
Build internal trust
As a leader while following the commendatory social mindset, your first priority transformation must become building internal trust for yourself as a leader. You are the brand ambassador of your organisation and are therefore expected to inspire and create more brand ambassadors like yourself you -become company culture champions. You yourself need to start by changing your own behaviour by earning internal trust, being transparent, putting listening first in your communication, doing what you say, developing a high EQ persona with loads of empathy. Your organisation must be open and encourage feedback and suggestions. While building trust is an effort because you are already overburdened with organisational responsibilities. However, in today’s environment building trust is your most important function as a leader.
“Greatness is a mindset, not a destination.” —Alex Toussaint
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
Be the first to comment on "The commendatory social mindset"