I've been thinking a lot about social capital in context with leadership and group dynamics. What I mean by social capital is the connections between people that enable you to reach further, to connect with more people. It's networking. Social capital is the value of your networks, the more networks you have the more social capital.
It all goes back to the saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know."
So social capital is this great thing. We connect with others, we do good things for them, they do good things for us. The trouble I have with this is that not everyone has the same opportunities to make these connections that are so vital. Someone with a less privileged identity does not have the same access. We all know that someone with "rich parents" is more likely to get the awesome internship or know someone who knows someone who can connect them with a nice job.
So what?
While I do spend a lot of time focusing on the downside of social capital, social media and the ever expending presence of online social networks are helping people with others from afar. It is easier than ever to find niche groups of people to bond with and small groups are able to bond together to bring about real change. The #Blacklivesmatter campaign is a good example of this. Another example is the students of the University of Missouri bonding together to remove the president that was dismissing students concerns over racist incidents. This cohesion enables groups to accomplish more than they could on their own.
As someone who currently preparing for graduation and thus looking for a job, I'm going to make use of the social capital I have. While I didn't have many networks when I graduated from undergrad, I have far more connections now. I've let friends, family, and former coworkers know I'm on the lookout. A supervisor sent me a job posting, a former colleague let me know of a job and commented that she knew the hiring manager. Social capital might enable me to find a job, or maybe I'll find one on my own, either way, with so many people looking out after me: I am richer than I thought.
