The Secret Sauce to Improving Social Capital for Public Service Leaders

Effective social capital can be seen in everyday activities that build connections among people, from someone opening a door for a stranger to bringing a community together to solving a complex issue. Public service leaders must apply this knowledge of social capital to help build strong communities, grow trust, and establish a better future for all.

The Challenge

Future educators, public service leaders, policy writers, and politicians might do well to look to social capital as the “secret ingredient” for building a foundation of trust, reciprocity, and human connectedness while simultaneously providing a pivotal role in addressing disparities in various aspects of society, from education to healthcare.

At the most basic level, social capital is the network of relationships among people who live and work in a community (Perry 2022, 8). To individuals not familiar with the term, this may seem like a simplistic idea. However, as Malin Eriksson indicated, “social capital cannot be used as a cookbook” (Eriksson 2011, par. 1). Individuals who build social capital in their organizations need key tools. Understanding those tools and mastering related skills are the first steps in the construction of a solid foundation for social capital. (Berner 2020, 1-24). In a nation divided by strong differences of opinion about the future, how can we maximize the impacts of social capital, especially if so many are unaware of its importance?

The Solution

Emerging leaders at the local, state, and national levels of government are struggling with what seems to be an increasingly difficult context for building the consensus needed for policy solutions. This is true even in their own workplaces. Admittedly, workplaces can be sites of significant dissension and rancor. However, at work, one’s network likely includes relationships with diverse colleagues and managers. It likely offers opportunities to connect with more people of different backgrounds and perspectives who expand our points of view than in families, friend groups, or neighborhoods. One may think in this technologically advanced world that this type of social capital is available in on-line social networks, but social capital online tends to mirror offline networks.

As a result, while not tangible, social capital at our workplace may hold more distinctive value than any luxury item money might buy. Managers and employees need to be intentional about capturing that value. Future leaders across all fields are positioned to implement and improve better social capital practices at the individual and organizational levels.

Below are suggestions for future leaders looking to build social capital in the workplace.

1. Invest in bonding social capital via emotional support, companionship, and validation through affinity groups.
2. Increase bridging social capital with informational and instrumental support required for healthy development and success.
3. Seek linking social capital opportunities, which involves social relations with those in authority that can be used to access resources or power (Berner 2020, 3-7).
4. Build a foundation of trust, respect, accountability, reciprocity, flexibility, and meaningful engagement (Berner 2020, 3-7).
5. Leverage organizational relationships, use data to inform decisions, and increase the notion of “building strong relationships as assets” (Berner 2020, 3-7).
6. Understand that “cultural competence is a vital principle of any program that significantly values social relationships” (Berner 2020, 3-7).

These six strategies, or what some may call solutions, have the potential to change a colleague’s life trajectory and offer additional resources to innovate and build value around the organizational mission. In other words, social capital may be the ‘glue’ that holds us together and is one of several interconnected capitals that underpin growth and future well-being. When workers see “social capital as the new gold” (Ujiagbe, Social Capital Quotes, 2023) and the “secret sauce” to changing many aspects of life, it will be easier for them to support each other and work more effectively to impact communities.

The Players

You may be asking, “Who are the players?” That answer is simple. The players are our future leaders, those frustrated by the current state but who want to design policies, campaign with promise, and are responsible for our communities. These are new players who hope to capitalize on connections. The players needed are the ones in federal, state, and local government who can improve their organization’s level of social capital from health to education.

The Promise

Robert D. Putnam wrote, “As a matter of fact, mankind now possesses for the first time the tools and knowledge to create whatever kind of world he [or she] wants” (Putnam 2000, par.7). These words speak volumes about our ever-changing public institutions.

Effective social capital can be seen in everyday activities that build connections among people, from someone opening a door for a stranger to bringing a community together to solving a complex issue. Public service leaders must apply this knowledge of social capital to help build strong communities, grow trust, and establish a better future for all.

 

Works Cited

Berner, M. et al. (2020). The Value of Relationships: Improving Human Services Participant Outcomes through Social Capital. Published by U.S. Department of Health

and Human Services.

Brown-Graham, Anita. “Week 3 Lecture”, Class Lecture, PUBA 759, UNC School of Government, Chapel Hill, October 10, 2023.

Eriksson, Malin. “Social Capital and Health – Implications for Health Promotion.” Global Health Action 4, no. 1 (2011): 5611. https://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v4i0.5611.

Putnam, R. (2001). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon & Schuster.

Ujiagbe, L. (n.d.). Social Capital. Good Reads. Retrieved September 26, 2023, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/social-capital