Is friendship the same as networking?

Networking is a fundamental skill and it is important in business, but most people want more than just contacts in business.

They want meaningful positive relationships that make them feel connected and valued in the workplace, that help bring out the best in their work and even their attitude about work.

Why is knowledge of work relationships important?

Whether you’re an employee, a co-worker, a manager, a boss or a self-employed entrepreneur, learning about work relationships, and especially how your attitudes toward others were formed (the chapter on early family and the other chapter on school roots of adult work relationship values and behaviours are two of my favourites in the book) can help to reverse tendencies that are not working or even help understand the causes of behaviours in others that are less than desirable.

With that knowledge, you can be empowered to understand and even reshape your own behaviour and in that way how others relate to you in the workplace.

Being valued at work and in business and having positive work relationships is a motivating factor to most, as well as doing excellent work itself.

Among your different roles — as management consultant, speaker, editor, professor, author and trainer – which one describes you the best?

You left out sociologist and artist and coach as well as wife and parent! I don’t have a favourite way to describe myself. It depends on the situation.

Probably, if I had to pick one way to be described over all others it would be author because everything else flows from that.

It is in the process of research and writing, which includes interviews and questionnaires, that the insights occur that leads to the training and the teaching.

I actually don’t think I’m that unusual in that I have many roles I perform.

I’m often asked what topics I research and write about are my favourite topics.

Once again, each topic that I explore is of interest to me.

Some topics I’ve returned to again and again like friendship or time management or relationships.

Some other topics I’ve studied for several years and even if I haven’t done a follow book yet, I try to keep up on the topic.

How do you explain ‘workship’, a word that you use in your book?

A ‘workship’ is a relationship that is more than an acquaintanceship or even a co-worker but less than a friendship, even a casual friendship.

There’s an important distinction between a ‘workship’ and a friend because a friend implies trust, loyalty, honesty, liking each other, being committed to each other for the long haul.

A ‘workship’ doesn’t have to be any of those things although, of course, it could be and should be.

It’s basically a strong positive feeling toward someone you work with or you deal with in business, but the relationship began with, and still is all about, business and work.

It is only the testing out of the ‘workship’ through time, different circumstances and challenges to the relationship that you will find out if it becomes a friendship or if it dissolves into an acquaintanceship or, even worse, a foe or enemy.

Casual friends are friends who are on a lower level of intimacy, but it is a friendship even though it is not a close or best friendship.

There is a degree of proven trust with a casual friend.

Are there some avoidable relationships in workplaces?

For instance, the pseudo-confidant who is just that – pseudo which means phoney, so that confidant is no confidant or friend at all and someone not to confide in because it can come back to hurt you in your job or career.

In Who’s that Sitting at My Desk? I talk about the four ‘workships’ that every worker and business person needs: the Mentor, the Advocate, the Trailblazer and the Researcher.