Career Comeraderie

Matrix Key:  Relationships - Staff and Colleagues

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success." - Henry Ford

Some of the most undervalued and overlooked relationships people have are with their colleagues or staff at work.  Because we are all thrown together in an environment outside our personal lives, we tend to not view these interactions so much as relationships but rather as necessary tasks.  Over the past several years, companies have come to recognize the importance of nurturing relationship between co-workers.  Business owners realize that an investment in team building and communication pays off in higher productivity and commitment to success.

High performance teams prioritize working relationships that are built on:

1. Respect
2. Accountability and Responsibility
3. Common Interests
4. Communication

Like everything else in the WholeLife Matrix, you must invest time and energy into these concepts in order to reap the rewards.  If you are a business owner, make sure you schedule events outside of work for employees to have fun together and get to know one another.  If you are an employee, ask a close colleague to lunch so that you can find out what motivates him or her.  The more you have invested in each other, the more likely you are to succeed.

Are you ready to win? 

You and Your Significant Other

Matrix Key - Relationships - Significant Other

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." - Aristotle

When we read the above quote, we realize that even ancient societies understood the power and importance of relationships.  That's why Relationships is one of the four key quadrants of the WholeLife Matrix.  In order to succeed in balancing your life, you must succeed at being in relationship with people.

Perhaps the most important relationship a person can have is with a significant other, the one other person in your life with whom you share love, time, experience, and partnership.  Whether this person is a spouse or trusted friend, significant others must nurture and prioritize their shared commitment.

There are four important actions that are essential to a successful relationship:

1. Mutual Love and Respect
2. Staying Power
3. Time Together - Connection
4. Communication

Many people say communication is the key to a long term relationship.  We suggest that all of the above are equally important, and deserve both partners' attention and action.  To make the two of you into that "single soul" that Aristotle describes, there must be effort on both parts, and a desire to go the distance.

Are you ready to win? 

The Importance of Friends

Matrix Key:  Relationships - Friends

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.' " - C. S. Lewis 

When it comes to relationships, we often think only of the significant other in our life.  But what about friends?  We must also be in relationship with the broader community around us, and develop friendships that will enlighten, support, and enrich us.  A person can have work friends, school friends, church friends, friends from every area of your life, and enjoy different types of relationships with each one.

Just as with your significant other, your relationship with your friends needs to be nurtured and tended.  You may talk to some friends only sporadically through the years, and each interaction is as fun and fulfilling as the last.  Or you may have some friendships that demand more of your attention, and require additional effort to remain viable, but are worth the extra time.

The WholeLife Matrix shows that the keys to a good friendship are very similar to those of a successful significant other relationship:

1. Affinity and Respect
2. Mutual Commitment
3. Time Together
4. Common Interests

 Allowing yourself to be open to new friendships and connections with people in your environment will yield amazing results.  Because everyone needs friends to share the good and bad times, the losses and the wins.  And as C. S. Lewis points out, we each need to see ourselves in the eyes and heart of another as we navigate this life.

Are you ready to win?

Guilty Pleasure or Just Good Conduct?

"Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best." - Tim Duncan, Professional Basketball Player

Last week I blogged about Tabatha Coffey and her reality show, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover. The gist was that most entrepreneurs need reality checks to make sure they are not putting up with what’s not working in their businesses.

This week I had the chance to talk with two experts who had heard Tabatha speak last month at a conference. Like me, they were impressed with her no-nonsense, back to basics business style. She used the opportunity, not to plug herself or her television show, but to speak about good business conduct.

Once again, Tabatha hit on some concepts that hold true for any business. You have to conduct yourself as though you are the tops in your field. Treat your customers with respect. Keep your place of business clean and inviting. Invest in employees who will respect your vision and provide quality customer service.

Dress the part. If you want high end customers, you need to draw high end customers with your demeanor, speech and appearance. In this age of casual every day, it’s easy to slip into habits that make it seem like we just don’t care. If you want to stand out from the crowd, look and dress the part of a leader.

I had a friend once who was looking to hire a house painter. She watched the painting company trucks she saw while sitting in traffic. She took the numbers of the trucks that were clean, in good repair and with good signage. She figured that if the company took pride in its trucks, it would take pride in painting her house.

It goes to show you that there still is a place for good business conduct, manners and pride. If you exhibit these characteristics in your business, your business will be a reflection of that behavior. And that is a sure fire way to win.

Are you ready to win?