Do you really keep in touch?
Alexandra Levit’s recent post, “Are You Plagued By Relationship Laziness?” struck home with me, and I think you’ll like it too. Before you go read it though, here are 5 Job-Related Reasons that you should really pay attention to it and try to apply it in your life.
- Have more friends–Well, duh. If you are the kind of person that is good at keeping in touch, your collection of true friends will grow and grow, and that includes your workplace. Having more friends at work is good for a hundred reasons including decreased stress.
- Increase your income–Okay, that’s not really true. What you will do is increase your happiness as if you had more income. According to a recent study, connecting with a person you care about each day is equivalent to making an additional $180,000 a year (HT Penelope Trunk). While a raise would be nice, it sure isn’t going to be a $180,000 raise.
- Maintain business contacts–If happiness isn’t enough of a reason to maintain friendships, consider that your network is critical to your career. If you are thinking about a new job, one of the best investments you can make in the process is a sustained, sincere cultivation of your friendships. People want to help their friends.
- Know what’s going on–If you are rarely the one to pick up the phone and initiate contact, there’s a good chance that you are going to miss out on what’s really going on in that person’s life. Facebook is helpful, but there’s value in getting the full story strait from the source.
- Sharpen your networking skills–The same set of habits that allows you to keep in touch with people you care about will also be useful when it comes time to make a new friend or contact. Picking up the phone for a cold-call is easier when you pick it up often to connect with a buddy.
While none of these reasons are Earth-shatteringly profound, taken together, I hope you see that there are many reasons to make that extra bit of effort. Oh yeah, your friends will feel more valued, appreciate your interest, and other non-work related fuzzies as well.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Stephen // Jul 20, 2007 at 4:12 pm
I’ve discovered this to be so true, and I hate it. It amazes me how difficult it is to keep in touch with close friends when they move away. You really have to be intentional to maintain the relationship, whether through weekly phone calls, monthly get-togethers, or anything that is planned out in advance. It’s sad that proximity often dictates the majority of our relationships.
2 Rebecca Thorman // Jul 21, 2007 at 2:01 pm
It all comes down to work. Ugh. I actually have the worst time at this. Not only am I naturally an introvert (although when I tell people that they look at me like, you? Noooo!), but I always take on more than I can handle as well. Pass me the magic button please.
3 Bryan Person, Connected Worker // Jul 23, 2007 at 11:35 am
I think we often just don’t place a high enough priority on getting back in touch with friends and contacts that we haven’t been in touch with for a while.
We say we’ll call or e-mail. We think they’ll call or e-mail. But then several months go by, and neither of us have reached out. The longer we wait, the harder it often gets.
Relationships that matter need to be nurtured and not taken for granted. I’m making a pledge this week to contact three people I haven’t been in touch with for a while. And hopefully, I can do that with three more people next week, and so on.
4 links for 2007-07-23 // Jul 23, 2007 at 6:26 pm
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