Social Responsibility, episode 9

Join David and Kim for a chit chat about Social Responsibility, which is the third competency in the Interpersonal composite. This is the ninth broadcast in our fifteen part series on EI.

Here are some notes and links from the show. Please join us next week on Friday, November 20th at 9:30AM Pacific, for our next broadcast on Problem Solving. Need a reminder? You can subscribe to our EQ and You reminders.

Social Responsibility is willingly contributing to society, to one’s social groups, and generally to the welfare of others. Social Responsibility involves acting responsibly, having social consciousness, and showing concern for the greater community.

Social responsibility, in general

Honouring Jim Gray

Authentic Happiness

Martin Seligman

Partial Show notes

0:00 Introduction, by David, noting that Kim and David are actually together in Vancouver.
1:00 David: Social responsibility is a corner stone of leadership…
2:00 Kim: Social responsibility is about being a part of a bigger picture… It’s about seeing ourselves in the context of our community… It’s about taking responsibility, even for little things, like picking up litter…
3:00 David: …about engaging people … we’re social beings. It’s interesting that rights seem to get talked about more lately. But responsibility is built right into our model of EQ…
4:10 Kim: The recent election is an interesting example. In Canada, we have a right to vote in an election. But in this recent election we had four million more people come out and vote. I was heartened by that. And it’s evidence of people taking their responsibilities in a living democracy seriously…
6:20 David: Social responsibility is being seeing ourselves in relation to others. It’s a shift in thinking from myself to others – “what can I do in the context of the planet”. And interestingly, thinking of others allows us to benefit. That’s not the goal, but it’s a nice side affect.
7:40 Kim: Jim Grey is an example of someone who has had success in his business life, and made many contributions to the YMCA community…
9:00 David: I love your ripple in a pond model of social responsibility – tell us about it.
9:20 Kim: When we throw a pebble in a pond, we watch the ripples spread out. We notice the changes, the effects. The human interactions are important.
10:10 David: It’s always interesting when we engage humans on a human, personable level…
12:00 Kim: It’s not all or none. Socially responsible actions are not always grand – it can be about small actions.
13:30 David: It’s a process and a way of thinking. Some people feel like they don’t have time for social responsibility. Managers sometimes tell us this. But actually, in the workplace, as a manager and a leader, social responsibility is an important part of your job. The questions, “how can I help you?” “What can I do?” “How can I help my team?” are essential. Sometimes instead of asking a general question, you can make a very specific offer. This is helpful…
16:30 David: Sometimes, it’s not about waiting for someone else to take care of something. There’s no “someone should” – there’s only “what will I do to fix this situation for everyone?” … when we shift the focus to others, we get out of ourselves… Leaders support the growth and development of others.
18:35 Kim: More depth of engagement is a natural part of this notion of social responsibility. In step out from myself, I’m taking the time to look a situation or a person in a different perspective. It’s giant learning every time. It’s a sense of engagement, and learning something new, that I’m going to be able to apply in other parts of my life.
19:00 David: Many people solve their “mid life crises” by shifting focus and doing something with greater social responsibility…
20:00 Kim: Often when we talk to people with young children, and who have taken the EQ-i 2.0 assessment, we discover that people are dismayed by the social responsibility competency. They feel like they aren’t as active as they were. But on probing they remember that their priorities have simply temporarily shifted to their family and that’s part of social responsibility. It’s often an unseen kind of social responsibility…
21:30 David: Environmental concerns are represented on the EQ assessment we use, but social responsibility is not restricted to environmental concerns…
23:00 Kim: When we immerse ourselves in community challenges, we engage with people and we get a truer understanding of the challenges that people face. It confronts thoughts like “why don’t those people just get a job” – it requires us to go deeper.
24:00 David: Social responsibility is not a tax write off. [laughter]
24:50 Kim: We’re not discouraging donations to nonprofits! [laughter]
26:00 David: Sometimes shifting focus from ourselves to others can be very healing and help get us out of a “victim role”… like, for example, freedom from obsessions of the mind, in the twelve step model…
27:00 Kim: social responsibility is both, and… what drives me is thinking about living on a planet with finite resources…
28:50 David: … and how can we use our privileges and talents to benefit others…

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