Mental Capital and social well-being

Vuyo Jack has made a useful contribution on what is needed to build our society in South Africa. In an article published in Business Report (‘Mental capital, well-being key to better SA society’) recently, he refers to work done in the UK on mental capital and well-being. Mental capital is here defined as encompassing:

“a person’s cognitive and emotional resources. It includes their cognitive ability, how flexible and efficient they are at learning and their ‘emotional intelligence’, such as their social skills and resilience in the face of stress” This could be summarised as the ability of people to engage effectively with people and the world around them, and to cope with and learn from what life throws at them.

This can broaden our thinking on the concept of social capital, which focuses mainly on the networks and relationships that we create and sustain. It also poses a challenge to our education systems, which tend to focus primarily on developing cognitive ability. And also to our workplaces, which are really where people have to learn to work, solve problems and be innovative together for the first time.

Jack points to 5 imperatives that can be a personal manifesto: build and maintain personal connection; keep physically active; stay aware, be reflective and understand our feelings; keep learning; and give more than what we get.