Education and Career News / Trends from around the World — January 17th, 2021

Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS

---

Education

10 things we learned in 2020 about living a good life

Excerpts from article by Jen Rose Smith, published in CNN Health

What do you need for a meaningful life? Even as 2020 strained communities around the world, it offered some valuable lessons in living well. In the widespread nostalgia for pre-pandemic gatherings and rituals, we saw just how much we depend on other people. When medical and other frontline workers risked their own health to support entire communities, the world watched the everyday impact of lives dedicated to service.

As we coped with an ongoing pandemic, researchers studying the science of well-being uncovered key insights into what makes life meaningful. The findings include the benefits of empathy, gratitude and cooperation, with ideas for increasing happiness in your own life — or even in your country.

Simon-Thomas joined a team from the GGSC in December to select 10 findings from 2020 that shed light on the good life, and offer a positive road map:

1. Choose empathy for a kinder year

Scientists already know that empathy is both a personality trait and a learned behaviour, which means that you can increase your empathy no matter your disposition. It can help forge stronger, more supportive relationships. Your motivation to be empathetic matters, according to two studies published this year by Harvard University researchers and from the University of Toronto.

2. Promote social justice to forge a happier society

Fair societies are happier, found a 2020 analysis of European Union countries using the EU Social Justice Index and reports of life satisfaction. It’s a strong correlation. Social justice was second to social capital — that’s how researchers refer to our complex networks of relationships — when it came to predicting each country’s happiness. Why? One study argued that a society’s commitment to social justice shows individual citizens that they are valued by their broader community which leads to greater happiness.

3. Pick up the phone and call

Researchers studying the science of well-being agree that human connection is key. It turns out phone calls and video calls create stronger social bonds than email or text, found a recent study published by the Journal of Experimental Psychology. Worried that calling will be awkward? You’re not the only one to think so. Many study participants overestimated the awkwardness of voice calls, while underestimating the benefits.

4. Reap the benefits of cooperation

Are kids naturally cooperative? Children showed more self-control when working toward a collective goal than an individual one, according to a 2020 study published by the journal Psychological Science. For the study, hundreds of small children tested their will by trying not to eat a cookie. If they could wait it out for long enough, they’d get a second cookie as a reward. Here’s the twist: In some versions of the test, the kids worked in teams. Together they earned more cookies for all.

5. Variety might really be the spice of life

There is more than one way to live well. Typically, researchers focus on two important metrics for evaluating the good life. One is pleasure; the other is all about deeper meaning.

In a 2020 paper, however, Shigehiro Oishi, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, proposed a new dimension for understanding a life well lived: psychological richness. That term underscores the value of variety, interest and novelty. A life of psychological richness is full of diverse experiences and discovery, offering challenges that stimulate your mind.

6. Kindness and gratitude create a ripple effect

Saying “thank you” can make the world a better place. How? It’s what researchers call the witnessing effect, where seeing a behaviour can change the actions of onlookers. After watching expressions of gratitude, participants in one study were more likely to be helpful, open and friendly. Kindness can create a similar outcome, found another study.

7. Live like an extrovert for a happiness boost

Research shows that extroverts have it pretty good. The personality trait, which tends to go along with highly social behaviour, is correlated with increased happiness. But that doesn’t mean the benefits of extroversion are off-limits for introverts. Just acting like an extrovert for a week correlated with increased well-being for participants in a study.

8. Emphasise altruism to help mitigate the pandemic

How can you convince people to wear a mask, practise social distancing and take other measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19? It’s not public shaming, people are more likely to comply with messages emphasising the importance of caring for others, found Jillian Jordan, assistant professor of business administration at Harvard University.

9. Create a more equal world by examining your beliefs

What’s the root of inequality? How you answer the question might influence your behaviour. If you believe that widespread poverty is the result of life circumstances — rather than laziness or personality — you’re more likely to support egalitarian policies, found one 2020 study. Both beliefs and behaviour can change.

10. Surround yourself with diversity and watch stereotypes fade

Nothings banishes stereotypes like real-world experience, found a 2020 study that compared regions’ ethnic diversity with the prevalence of stereotypes. The authors call it a “diversity paradox.” It turns out that when we cross racial, cultural and ethnic lines more often, we notice how similar we are to those around us, instead of focusing on the small differences.

---

Career

Want to be a better mentor? 7 surprising ways to improve

Excerpts from article by S. Mitra Kalita, published in fortune.com

Companies are increasingly offering formal mentoring and coaching. Nearly three-quarters of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programmes. A Deloitte survey found that 61% of millennials have a mentor, and their ideal week devotes more time to fostering these relationships. 

Research shows career mentoring has reciprocal benefits and is not only beneficial for proteges. That’s the first secret I shared in my swan song: I get more out of this than they do. Fresh from my time running a large team in a Fortune 10 company, I share other lessons learned: 

1. You must believe

This is simple but key to any relationship you are trying to develop. If you don’t believe that the people around you can grow, rise to meet challenges, be truly excellent then your efforts will be perfunctory and insincere. Everything can be learned.

2. Feed people, early and often

My grandfather was a farmer and a contractor in a village in India. He was known for his honesty, and my grandmother worried “nice guys finish last” and that this trait would lead them into poverty or being swindled. She devised a system of feeding workers before they went into the fields or onto jobs. That bred loyalty and personal connection, and in her words, “They care less when I yell at them.” Nearly a century later, I borrowed the approach in the pandemic by sending colleagues meals, plants and candles to show support even as work demands intensified. Gifts need not be expensive as much as meaningful, and food literally nurtures.

3. Three guiding questions

I have found myself facing many a tongue-tied protégé. Someone probably told them they should network, find a mentor, seek answers from more experienced professionals—but don’t know what to ask. It’s on mentors to put these folks at ease and guide next steps. I learned to ask pointed but existential questions like: Are you happy? What brings you joy? What do you want to do? Often, the response is: “Nobody ever asked me that before.” Figuring out what you want is probably the hardest part of career discovery.

4. Love and uplift diverse talent

I’ve spent most of my life advocating for diversity and inclusion at home and work. But when applied to mentoring, is more than advocacy. If I am running a meeting, I check invite lists for representation, I call on folks who have not spoken. It becomes second nature after a while, leading me to believe we can combat our own biases once we acknowledge everyone.

5. Always be hiring

I try to have three non-agenda calls or meetings per week with younger talent. This helps create a deep bench of folks to turn to when the perfect opening eventually arises. Because these conversations yield high-potential hires, the strategy allows subsequent job interviews to be more about “selling” the chance to work with us and answering questions about the role. 

6. Help the people you mentor tackle issues of chemistry

A recurring issue in the workplace is what to do if two people don’t get along. Here, I encourage mentees to try to reset the chemistry, or at least the influence that person has over one’s moods and sense of work and worth. Sometimes, overtly approaching the colleague in question and saying you want to reset is a welcome overture; they’ve likely been feeling the tension, too. 

7. You can’t be who you are not

This is the most important lesson for mentors and mentees. What works for me will not work for everyone. We lose a lot of time frustrated that people can’t read our minds or do things exactly the way we do them. Yet the best products and innovations emerge from a diversity of lenses and perspectives. Our job is not to turn other people into us; it’s to turn them into the best version of themselves.

---

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)

Like this post? For more such helpful articles, click on the button below and subscribe FREE to our blog.

---

---

---