If you think carefully, almost everything we do, revolves around human beings. It is said that humans are social animals. Which is why, imprisonment is one of the biggest punishments for us. Yes, we are arrested from freedom but imprisonment also isolates us from social interactions. We need friends and family around us as the backbone of our own social system. Many people who naturally keep to themselves are labelled as ‘unsocial’. Doing business needs you to be social and interact to know your customer and their feedback, preferences and needs. You will be surprised to know that there are many of us who are not born with a ‘social mindset’.
This mindset and its approach is key in success today as you lay lesser emphasis on just results and outcomes that are generated by others but instead leverage emotional aptitude to get better output and impact. With a ‘Social Mindset’ you engage more with people and create an environment of increased human engagement thus creating greater collective ownership and better, high impact results. Like all other mindsets, you will need to work hard in acquiring this mindset and sharpening it further if you already are inclined that way.
Here are three basic steps to evolve to the motivating ‘Social Mindset’.
Deep understanding of human beings– The first obvious step is to use hyper empathy to understand your team and customers. Deep understanding means going into the layers of the person and gauging their mindset and values first. Build bridges of mutual trust, understanding and true interdependence. Be transparent and connect with each other on common goals and objectives. Beyond deep understanding you need to understand each person’s strengths and weaknesses. Each human being or professional is blessed with immense talents – bring these out through your work processes. Putting the right talent in the right channel creates positive moments of success. These moments of success inspire human beings to strive for more success and then it becomes cycles of success and a win-win performance culture for the entire team.
Create a fun environment– Studies have shown that fun is a great motivator and performers thrive in a fun environment. Work culture has shifted now from a stern and formal style to a bouncing merit-based work environment where people don’t come to work but they come to fun. As the lines are blurring more between office and home given the work from home dictate as a precautionary measure in the Pandemic era, performers look for freedom and social interaction with their colleagues. Competition has given way to collaboration. You will need to be the symbol of the social mindset yourself, leading the creation of the fun environment hands on. Fun means, celebrating successes too and making heroes of achievers. While creating a fun place to work in, also create an eco-system of high performance
Increase your social quotient- Bring on your interpersonal skills, socialise more. This is a fundamental mantra to acquire and grow a ‘Social Mindset’. How do you do this? Very simple. You need to decide to increase your social quotient and then set out your road map. Start by measuring yourself on your social quotient. First do a self-audit and then talk to about 5 of your closest friends or family members. Ask them to give you insights. Are you easy to talk to? Do you mingle enough? Do people like to interact with you etc. You will get clear pointers on the areas where you need improvement. Again, like any fundamental mindset change, take a close and genuine well wisher into confidence. Appoint a change buddy and get into action. As Mahatma Gandhi used to say “You must become the change you want to see”.
As you surge ahead, be very conscious of your purpose and align your ‘Social Mindset’ to ensure that your team and you achieve this purpose together. But enjoy your journey as you get to your destination!
“Each day comes bearing its gifts. Untie the ribbon.” — Ann Ruth Schabacker
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