Populism

Recently, I’ve been reading about populism and its effects on communities. As a social psychology enthusiast, it always amazes me how the crowd can bring out either the best or the worst in people. And when you’re in that crowd, it’s not easy to maintain the awareness to realise what the crowd is doing to you.

Its effects in politics can generate a momentum that pushes opinions toward the extreme. Most academics agree that this is not healthy in the long term and can distract from what is actually important. A recent video by Joeri Schasfoort, the YouTuber behind Money & Macro, listed four mainstream explanations for this trend:

1. Social media polarisation
2. Economic disenchantment
3. Cultural disconnect and representation gap
4. Rise in racism

Interestingly, he quickly dismissed the fourth reason—racism. It’s a relief to think we’re not heading toward total societal collapse simply because we’ve started hating one another so intensely. But the other three factors offer very real lessons for me as a business leader. How do I ensure we don’t amplify polarisation in our own organisation? How do we make sure our people are paid well? And how do we keep leadership genuinely connected to our teams?

These are questions I have to reflect on constantly to ensure we don’t simply chase what is popular.