Humanity, Heroes & the Unheralded Power of Psychological Capital

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. - Desmond Tutu

?Notes

These are unprecedented times. With all that is unfolding, I find it particularly challenging to write this newsletter. Yet, I do believe that knowledge gleaned from work-focused research is vital now. In particular, studies that address our psychological foundation. (My work with managers & team leads focuses upon 5 of these foundation-oriented constructs.)

Over the last few years, we have become keenly aware of the construct of psychological safety. However, a lesser known construct psychological capital, developed by Dr. Fred Luthans, appears particularly relevant now. The construct includes 4, first-order components; hope, self-efficacy, resilience and optimism. All are vital to work life well-being. All could be in jeopardy now. As such, I am re-sharing excepts from a previous post focusing on the construct.

I've framed questions at the close of this post.

Please share your thoughts concerning how we might bolster & apply psychological capital to our work lives & possibly beyond.

From: Why Psychological Capital is So Essential in the Workplace. 4/11/2013

Most of us are familiar with the terms economic capital or human capital.

However, it is time to consider the notion of psychological capital and how it relates to our work lives. Researchers studying the application of positive psychology to the workplace have carefully considered this construct — as a growing body of evidence demonstrates that a our mindset can not only affect our attitudes toward our work, but the outcomes which follow.

Indeed, the psychological capital that we possess — can have a significant impact upon work and career.

Along this vein, researchers have identified a high-order construct, aptly named Psychological Capital (PsyCap). Psychological Capital is comprised of a number of key psychological resources that we bring to our work life experiences. In combination, we utilize these resources to meet the challenges of our daily work lives. (Referred to as "HERO".)

The HERO resources:

• Hope. A belief in the ability to persevere toward goals and find the methods or paths to reach them.
• Efficacy. The confidence that one can put forth the effort to affect outcomes.
• Resilience. The ability to bounce back in the face of adversity or failure.
• Optimism. A generally positive view of work and the potential of success.

Of key importance, studies have established (Avey, et al., 2011) a clear positive relationship between PsyCap and a number desired workplace outcomes, including as job satisfaction, organizational commitment and psychological well-being. Moreover, the construct has been shown to be negatively correlated with negative organizational behaviors, including cynicism, anxiety, stress, and the intention to turnover.

On a promising note, PsyCap appears to be a "state like" quality and open to change. This contrasts with traits that tend to be largely stable over time, such as the "Big 5" personality traits, of extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness.

As a result, psychological capital can be developed and strengthened.

Certainly, this has broad implications for key workplace attributes such as performance feedback, engagement, role design and leadership style.

Present Moment: Strategy

Consider the 4 contributing components of PsyCap: Hope, self-efficacy, resilience & optimism:

• How do these components affect your work, in the present moment?
• Do you feel that you possess adequate levels of each, to move forward comfortably and confidently?
• If you've identified a weakened component — what experiences might have contributed? What might help you going forward?
• How might we strengthen our psychological capital overall? For our team? Our organization?
• What resources or practices do you feel would be helpful or necessary?

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist & speaker, who explores the value of core stability to empower work & career. The Core Masterclass teaches managers & team leads how to harness the power of 5 key psychological constructs — to empower people & work.