Why Work Friends are Worth It

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Hbr, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Business/management, Harvard, Business/entrepreneurship, Teams, Leadership, Economics, Management, Innovation, Communication, Strategy, Business, Marketing, Business/marketing

4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2020

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Shasta Nelson, relationship expert and author, says that work friendships are critical to individual and organizational success but acknowledges that it's not always easy to build these personal -- but still professional - connections, especially when work is virtual. She explains why consistency, vulnerability, and positivity are fundamental to friendship and offers specific suggestions for how to build those things with colleagues. Nelson is the author of the book "The Business of Friendship: Making the Most of Our Relationships Where We Spend Most of Our Time."

Transcript

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0:00.0	How do you navigate gender in your workplace?
0:04.0	HBR's fan favorite podcast Women at Work is back with personal stories, the newest research,
0:09.6	and practical advice on navigating divorce, disability, and career failures.
0:14.0	Listen for free to H.B.
0:16.0	Women at Work wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the HBO Ideacast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard. The subject of today's show is near and dear to my heart. We're going to be
0:48.3	talking about work friendships. I've had really good ones ever since I started my
0:52.4	career at the Freelance Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
0:55.4	Ted Bird was my first work best friend.
0:58.2	We went on early morning runs together and drank lots of wine on Friday nights.
1:02.4	At the Financial Times in New York and London,
1:05.0	I bonded with Rebecca Knight, who's now like a sister to me.
1:08.0	And at HBR, I'm lucky to have close confidence
1:10.0	like Scott Baronotto, Amy Gallo, and Dan McGinn. This is a little crazy but I
1:15.2	asked my producer Mary, who's also a friend, to call all three of them and ask a question.
1:20.5	Why are you and Allison friends? Here's Amy. We became friends I think because we had a lot in common and
1:27.3	truthly because she once laughed really hard at a joke of mine
1:31.3	Which endeared me to her.
1:33.2	But I think we've stayed friends because Allison always has my back.
1:38.2	And Scott?
1:39.2	I think really what it is, is we're so different and somehow the same at the same time.
1:45.0	We have similar life experiences and we have similar thoughts and ideas but we
1:50.0	approach things so differently and think about things so
	...

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