Today I want to talk about building relationships at work.
When I first started at Intel my goal was just to make money so I can pay the bills. I had entrepreneurial stuff I was doing on the side and did not want the two to mix.
My initial mindset really caused me to just do the bare minimum when it came to getting to know my peers. I remember being in a team-building meeting where the question came up about, “who are your friends at work?” (we were talking about one of Marcus Buckingham’s books and the fact that you will have a better experience at work if you have a best friend there). I raised my hand and asked, “What if you don’t want to have any friends at work?” That stumped them for a bit.
When, I made the shift from creating this super silo-ed life to allowing outside of work Mike to bleed into inside of work Mike, things were different. I gave myself permission to get curious about my peers and learn more about them. I set up short meetings with them to just talk about who they are and what they are working on. I opened myself up to share some of the things I was working on outside of work as well. That allowed us to bond and bonding made it easy for us to help each other and cover each other’s backs and promote each other’s interest. This is what we should all be striving for, as it helps make the perfect working environment. Of course, having things like the best office furniture can also help, but at the end of the day having a good team is the best thing that you can do.
We may think it’s every man / woman for themselves and we are all striving for the same thing but it doesn’t have to be. Who dictates what you “have” to strive for. We’ll have a whole other discussion about promotions and the understanding it’s not the only way to advance.
Anyhow, I just swung by today to remind you that work is much more fun when the people who show up, know each other, which leads to supporting each other.
Remember, you don’t have to leave your job to leave a mark. This is Mike Ambassador Bruny for Brand Inside a Brand.
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