// This is the second post in the 4 part series covering Officer Like Qualities
In the last post, we covered the theme of Planning and Organizing that was based on developing one’s ability to process large amount of information and then take informed decisions based on that. In this issue, we will cover the topic of social adjustment that is centered on the topic of human interactions and how we can sharped this instinct to best adjust and become productive in a new environment.
In this category, there are three qualities in specific that we are looking to develop:
Social Adaptability
Co-Operation
Sense of Responsibility
In my career, I have had the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people from different backgrounds. As the world is becoming closer, thanks to the internet and millisecond delivery of messages/news from all across the world; it has become even more important to effectively interact in social environment. Therefore , let’s have a look at the pillars of this OLQ category:
Social Adaptability: Social adaptability refers to one’s capability to face a completely new environment (can be a new position, country, company etc.) and become effective as soon as possible. The underlying principle here is that of acceptance wherein you are either accepted by the new environment of rejected quickly as a non-desirable organ. Although, there is no replacement of practicing this by exposing yourself to new environments continuously, there are some tips that may go a long way in easing this process:
Research : Learn and research as much as possible about the new environment. There is plenty of information online as well as in books that can help you along the way. There is absolutely no excuse for not taking time and putting the effort into effectively learn the ins and outs of the new environment before hand
Speak the Language: Be it switching countries or companies, there will be an inevitable change in language and it is your responsibility to invest energy to get fluent as soon as possible. Speaking the same language as your environment is a major factor that will help you in getting accepted easily
Get Uncomfortable : Invite people to coffee, attend the local soccer games and go the a local meetup. Cooping up in your apartment and relentlessly researching will not help as much as live training in the environment. All the people have a differing horizon of time that they will take to get comfortable with you and therefore spend the time so that the environment gets to know you too.
Co-Operation : This quality is pretty self- explanatory but does owe explanation in one particular point. In my opinion: People, when exposed to a foreign environment, tend to have very high expectations in terms of how much their environment must support them. Oftentimes it has been my observation that the individuals have feeling of being privileged and therefore wait for the ones around them to help them. This is where they usually go wrong.
Rather than expecting the new environment to support them, the thought process should be : How can I quickly start contributing? Is there something as mundane as bringing coffee that I can do that will help the new situation that I am in. It is these simple ‘first-moves’ that go a long way in solidifying your image and reputation as a net value add than a time-sink
Sense of Responsibility: This quality might be interpreted in many different ways but the way I see it, it is the sense of pride. It is taking pride on small tasks that are assigned to you so that when the big tasks come, you are getting the details right. Having / developing this sense and taking on responsibility has almost proportionate response from the environment as you are seen as someone who is adding value rather than extracting value.
It must be noted however that this quality also has flip side where you are expected (and you must) take responsibilities of tasks gone wrong rather than brushing it under the rug or blaming somebody else for it. We all have worked with/under someone who is well known for throwing others under the bus when the time comes and taking call the credit: Nobody likes these sort of people. In a new environment, you want to establish your identity as someone trustworthy and this trust comes from taking on responsibility and consistently delivering on it.
No matter which level of automation we reach collectively as humans, interacting with others as social animals will be a cornerstone of our existence and it is therefore that the people/soft skills must be developed at the same priority as the rest of har technical skills.
Hope this read helped inspire some interesting discussions at your end