Do We Need a Call to Arms or Call to Connect?

September 20, 2011 12:22 PM

Years ago somebody asked me if I was wearing a nametag to build social capital.

Social what?

So I did some research.

As defined by Robert Putnam’s groundbreaking book, social capital is our reserve of personal bonds and fellowship. Like a bank account, every interaction that builds trust and reciprocity strengthens our sense of community and instills a feeling of belonging.

What’s interesting is how many different areas of daily life social capital affects – everything from productivity to depression to suicide to juvenile delinquency to test scores to government response time to divorce rate.The problem is, our reserve is eroding. Nobody engages anymore. People are building bigger fences and smaller porches. And we’re becoming more disconnected from each other than ever before.

Are nametags the answer? Probably not.

But each of us needs to be reminded that our species is better together. Each of us needs to remember that navigating life is much easier when you have a solid crew. Each of us needs to be reminded that life is a lot richer when you have people to share it with.

We don’t need a call to arms – we need a call to connect.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you build social capital?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “15 Ownership Phrases That Payses” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

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Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.