Category: Business Management

Quotes To Live By

henry_ford

“If money is your hope for independence you will never have it. The only real security that a man will have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience, and ability.”

– Henry Ford –

Best Friend At Work

BestFriendPhoto courtesy *USB*

"The development of trusting relationships is a significant emotional compensation for employees in today’s marketplace."

Gallup has made the term "best friend at work" popular through it’s Q12 framework for employee engagement. Every time I’ve come across this question, it’s made me wonder what characterizes a best friend at work.

Come to think of it, a "best friend at work" can’t be too different from a "best friend". A person who knows you well & you regard with affection & trust. Someone you like spending time with. Well, all of this applies & then some more.

"If you really want to know how your behaviour comes across to your colleagues and clients, stop looking in the mirror and admiring yourself. Let your colleagues hold the mirror and tell you what they see."

What characterizes a best friend at work?

  • IS willing to be a mirror & tell you for who you are professionally, rather than wait for your foes to have a field day at your expense
  • IS truly interested in your well being & your development
  • GOES the extra mile to understand your point of view
  • DOES NOT always get swayed by what you want to hear
  • IS NOT just a buddy who pretends to remain friends but secretly despises you (this happens a lot)
  • IS NOT just a buddy with mutual animosity towards a common enemy

"While companies often pay significant attention to loyalty toward the organization, the best employers recognize that loyalty also exists among employees toward one another. All employees have "leaving moments" when they examine whether to leave or stay at an organization. The best managers in the world observe that the quality and depth of employees’ relationships is a critical component of employee loyalty."

Its one thing is for the organization & its managers to be aware of the importance of a "best friend". But why should you as an individual be too bothered about it?

  1. A best friend measurably improves your life. Studies reveal that if your best friend has a healthy diet, you are five times as likely to have a healthy diet yourself. If your best friend is not physically active, you are probably not, either.

  2. Organizations are but a collection of individuals. You can individually contribute to building a trusting & positive work environment by being someone’s best friend. 

“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”

——
Some other reading on the topic:

Links of Interest – 14Jul2010

Collaboration – More or The Right Way?

The idealist in me would like to believe that collaboration within organizations is an absolute must. More the better. Or is it?

Morten Hansen questions the above & shares his perspective on The Right Way to Collaborate in this HBR podcast.

Good hear.

My key takeaways from this piece –

More efforts to improve collaboration is not always better. Do not take up initiatives for the sake of collaboration alone. Instead focus on the business goals expected from collaboration.

The collaboration jig saw has multiple pieces – common organizational goals, type of people, people’s collaboration competencies, reward mechanism & structure. You need to get a certain extent of all of them right to leverage collaboration.

Other resources on the topic that might interest you: