In my early career, no one told me this overwhelming truth about thriving in your job, so I’m telling you now:
Connection IS the work.
Recently a coaching friend was asking for advice on a client who was good at her job but was feeling stuck. The feedback was she didn’t interact much with her colleagues.
A lot like me back in the day.
Earlier in my career, I thought my job was to, uh, do my job. I didn’t think my colleagues would be interested in knowing any part of me beyond what was business relevant.
What i wanted this client (who sounds like former me) to know and feel is that connection IS the main stage, not a sideshow. Even with the most bottom line oriented mindset, building relationships is time well spent.
Call it the “connection currency.”
It’s a valuable currency because getting things done in an organization also requires other people’s buy in. All the conversations you have, all the people you get to know are deposits towards moving important goals forward. And connecting interactions build trust.
Once I was aware of this, I experimented with building meaningful connection in ways that were comfortable for me.
➡ To the amazing people reading this, please comment ✏ :
How do you connect with others at work? And what advice would you give to someone just learning this new mindset?
Let’s share our knowledge – a wonderful way to connect!
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