Business Fit Magazine October 2019 Issue 2 | Page 44
Mindset & Emotion
young people will drop out of school, and despite
having aspirations, with no relational capital
support, they will be unlikely to achieve them.
And it doesn’t stop there, they will be more likely
to be burdened by debt and long working hours
adding stress to family life and potentially leading
to mental illness or problems with addiction. In
the past such inequality has provoked revolution.
We need to start applying social conscience into
our way of thinking, introduce more mindfulness
and less greed, reaching out a helping hand to
those who truly want to work hard and achieve,
but no longer have access to the relational capital
which would have helped them in the past.
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 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
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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 their own income
group. Social institutions, such as unions and
churches, which gave a voice to them previously
and provided them with access to greater
relational capital have seriously declined. This
inequality will result in those at the bottom end
of the scale being unable to invest in education,
open our circles and welcome others in. I’m not
suggesting this will be easy, the whole tapestry
of our society has shifted to make us greedy
and protective of our own wealth and success.
The rich and successful are rewarded making it
harder for those struggling to make it. There has
to be a shift in our mindset. We need to become
more mindful of others, we need to encourage
success for everyone if we are going to make the
change from a greedy non-caring society to one
that is happy, fulfilled, successful and united.
Together is Better.
My motto has always been Together is Better. I
believe in helping others achieve their goals, my
initiative behind Business Fit Magazine was to
support entrepreneurs by giving them access
to tools to grow and to empower women,
encouraging them to use conscious business
practices.
I believe in giving, in sharing and working as a
collective group, supporting relational capital for
everyone and my vision is for others to follow
this principle. We should all have access to
opportunities, however it seems we have become
very good at protecting our own interests, rather
than giving others a helping hand. We all need to
change our attitude, to help bring a halt to the
growing disparity between those with the power
and those with hopes and dreams which are
being shattered through no fault of their own,
but due to the closed circles of the elite.
Applying relational capital in my own experience,
is not always easy. By providing opportunities
to fellow entrepreneurs hoping to build their
careers and their businesses, I feel at times that
my willingness to share can be taken for granted.
There has to be balance. If we open up our circles
to let people in, we have to feel they will not take
advantage, but also share our own integrity.
We need to take responsibility and work towards
collective change, our shared interests need
to brought back into line with our personal
interests, we need to support the development
of relational capital for the many. We have to
start giving more and taking less. We all need to
Verónica Sosa is the Founder of Business Fit International and Business
Fit Magazine, Founder of SHE, author , International Speaker award winner,
TV Personality, Business Expert. She has more than 18 years of experience
working in the editorial sector & corporate sector as a Manager in Marketing
and Sales for International Publicity Companies in Spain. Verónica is dedicated
to empowering women towards better lives and rediscovering themselves.
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