Business Fit Magazine January 2019 Issue 1 | Page 28

Mindset & Emotion
Relational Capital:
Together
is Better!
Verónica Sosa
We are constantly hearing how the social divide
between the rich and poor, between those who
have and those who don’t is growing wider. I think
it is safe to say that a chasm has now opened
up between them, making it ever harder to reach
across from one side to the other.
How much of this separation is down to
Relational Capital? I use the term “relational
capital” which I feel is best defined as “a set of
all relationships – market relationships, power
relationships and cooperation – established
between firms, institutions and people.”
(Welbourne and Pardo-del-Val, 2008).
Relational capital is the network which helps
people succeed, it can be personal networks
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or on a community level, it enables people
to believe they have a say in where their life’s
journey is taking them. Our world has become
increasingly capitalist, one percent of the
population holds half the world’s wealth, with
predictions that by 2030 it will increase to two-
thirds. Elitists and the establishments with far
greater relational capital and considerably
more influence are only interested in protecting
their own personal interests and development.
Hoarding their relational capital and using it to
keep others from accessing it and excluding
‘outsiders’ from economic opportunities.
Those at the other end of the scale have
started to realise their relational capital is
diminishing and no longer extends beyond