Key Career Trait 12: SOCIAL IMPACT
- Erica Hughey
- Jun 15
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 20
This is the talent to be able to find the right words at the right time. Your ability to choose precise and moving words enables you to inspire and motivate your team with your uniqueness and authenticity. The more you develop your emotional intelligence, the more you will be able leverage it to determine the right time to impact the work environment by speaking up about social issues. Think about it, not everyone can articulate their feelings with such clarity and weight so this trait is a phenomenal superpower if you will.
Becoming fully aware of the impact of using your voice along with the words you choose and the tone you deliver them in will make you an exceptional and wise communicator. The value you bring to the team is in how you listen and then influence the trajectory of a project with clear, well thought out statements applicable to the situation at hand. By leveraging both your analytical skills and your social skills, you are able to cautiously address the critical points without overwhelming those you lead. This also is demonstrated in your ability to introduce clarity quickly and clear up misunderstandings by equally balancing both facts and feelings.
This trait invites you to distinguish between when it is best to simply feel your feelings and when it is best to express them, fully aware that they will impact those who you share them with. Feelings are emotional data points that inform you of the current energy of your internal chemistry. Voicing your feelings is only one way to express them. You can also express them by being creative in any artistic way that feels natural to you such as cooking, photography, singing in the shower, writing, dancing, etc.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
It's important to realize that when you express yourself, you have the power to change lives, so others must be ready to receive you. You can prepare them for your impact by informing them that you have something significant to share and by giving them a moment before you communicate what you are sensing. If you are feeling unsure or melancholic, it's best to not be impulsive and wait for the right moment to speak. Hold off until you have emotional clarity so that your message will carry that clarity forward and communication will be intentional and effective. Having patience with your own feelings ensures self-control and that your team will hear and listen to you. Here are six stages to developing this trait of making a social impact:
STAGE 1: STANDING STILL - Initially, by withstanding from interactions with your team, you'll find yourself feeling more balanced. You may notice that you relate with those who can appreciate your individual needs, honor your diverse moods (or modes), accept your authenticity, and embrace your uniqueness.
STAGE 2: STANDING POINT - Having the inner discipline to be selective with your commentary and maintain stasis by standing on your points and only speaking from your principles. Coworkers or clients may sense when you are in the mood to socialize and share you impactful emotions.
STAGE 3: RESURGING - We all experience fragility in relating with others. Learn from past missteps and move on gracefully. Figuring out who your correct audience is and when to share is learned over time. Once the audience and timing is correct, they'll be able to hear you just as you are.
STAGE 4: FORESIGHT - Here you'll find yourself ready to articulate what you sense to the company or client in a fixed, single focused manner and make the emotional connection with your colleagues or customers.
STAGE 5: PRAGMATISM - You become a strategic leader by aligning with the natural aspects of you that are emotionally empowering and knowing when, where and with whom to share like a chess player. You may find yourself receiving a lot of invitations to interact and make an impact as others will have an expectations of your ability to read the room and move the needle.
STAGE 6: TRANSFORMING - Here you are ready to go big or go home. You stand apart from the normal expressions of social behaviors by engaging in your own rules of engagement which empowers the status quo to be reexamined for evolution, process improvement.
Satori Synergy offers data-driven, transformative career coaching and team building to change-ready professionals and organizations to cultivate successful work cultures and satisfying careers aligned with individual natural traits and strengths. Erica Hughey, The Career Engineer, trained at the Human Design Business Institute, uses your Career Design Blueprint as an objective, individualized tool for tailored professional development, leadership training, talent management, and change management. She incorporates her knowledge in social intelligence, emotional intelligence and corporate cultural intelligence provides you with a holistic analysis and comprehensive consulting and coaching experience.
Get started by reading your personalized SOP, a Career Design Report or schedule an expert Career Design Analysis session to discover and discuss your prominent leadership traits. You'll learn how to leverage your innate skills to transform yourself and your work environment solving for communications issues by using your specific interaction strategies and authentic decision making.
