Three Cups of Tea: Building Social Capital

Years ago, I stumbled upon the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, which was written about building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2010. The concept of three cups of tea struck me and stayed with me. In the book, the author is told by an elder that it takes three cups of tea to build connections. The first cup of tea, you are an acquaintance; the second cup of tea, you are a friend; and the third cup of tea, you are family, a metaphor of social capital. Simply put, social capital is the networks that bring people together.

Making friends and connecting with others has many benefits. When people are connected, they trust, share resources, help, and look out for one another.

Recently, I was speaking to job seekers and asked them about their job search network. In the room, a few people volunteered, connected to the community, took a class, or spoke to new people each day.  The process of building social capital after labour disruption can be difficult. But it can also be a time of renewal. Imagine knitting at home. You have a great skill, and it brings your creativity out, but you are alone. Imagine taking that skill and using it to build social capital. A local library and several yarn stores host knit nights where fellow knitters get together. You could join a group to make some friends, and as you get to know others in this group, you build social capital to ask for help in your job search. You can let people outside of your normal networks know that you are job hunting, and they might just help move you closer to that new job.

If you need to expand your networks and build some new social capital, try these strategies:

  • Be active in your community. As I mentioned with knitting groups, get involved in groups that have similar interests to you and connect with them.
  • Find informal leaders and connectors. In the Lakeview Neighbourhood, there is an active connector who describes himself as ‘king of the hood.’ He has the pulse of Lakeview and can connect people together. Try finding people like that.
  • Try some volunteering. While you are job hunting and trying to decide on your next career, exploring and giving back could connect you with people who might help you find a job. Moreover, adding volunteering to your resume makes you stand out, as will the skills you have gained during your experience.
  • Challenge yourself to talk to five new people a day. I don’t mean ask them for a job, but look someone in the eye, say hello, and tell them to have a nice day. You will get comfortable speaking to new people, and you might make a new friend.
  • Attend a workshop or seminar in person at a community event, community centre, employment service provider or library. You will meet new people there.

Job hunting is hard work. Build a schedule for finding jobs, volunteering, and connecting with people to build that social capital.

About the DWA:

The DWA creates an annual plan supplying helpful information for community planning. The DWA hosts Jobs First Durham (JFD) a boutique job board with hyper-local information.

The DWA provides just-in-time custom labour market information and often conducts custom fee-for-service research. If you are interested in local data, please don’t hesitate to contact the DWA.

The Province of Ontario partially funds the DWA to supply Labour Market Information (LMI) to the Region of Durham.

 

Written by: Heather McMillan, Executive Director, Durham Workforce Authority

Heather’s expertise is developing strong local community labour markets and conducting industry research supported by innovative projects. Heather is a Toronto Sector Skills Academy Metcalf Fellow and was recently awarded her Certified Workforce Development Professional (CWDP) certification from the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals.