Finding your BFF at work

I only learned the word #BFF (Best Friend Forever) in the last few years from my daughter who is studying in Primary School. One of the interesting things that are common nowadays compared to my school days is that the school will randomly put everyone in a different class each year so that they get to know more people and develop better social skills. The result is that my daughter will tell me that so-and-so is now her new BFF!

"What about Valerie?" I asked.

"Well, she is my BFF too…. Now I have another" she replied.

One of the best things about raising children is that you can bring back some of the "inner child" in us. The above scenario reminds us that when we arrived in this world, our hearts and souls were pure. There is no anger, grudge or politics with new people that we meet, and everybody is a friend. What's more, if you have a big heart, one BFF is often not enough!

At a young age, it is much easier to build trust because our view of the world is much more simple. As we grow older, mental models start to accumulate and our view of the world changes. It becomes harder and harder to build trust which is also why our best friends in life are usually the ones we knew from school years! When we get into the professional world, it is often said “There are no true friends, let alone a BFF” and this is a sad reality we should not accept.

As good leaders, we strive to create a good culture and happy teams for talents to thrive. Often, we really wish people could drop their guard and be truthful people at work so they can connect better with others. A truly connected team is amazing, they will spend their personal time helping others in the team and will have dinner together on a Saturday night! If you have this kind of team environment, your employer branding is already a success and your company will be a talent magnet. For most people, work life is about 25% of their entire lifespan, so why not build some really deep friendships at work?

Wisdom tells us that in life it is always "Give and Take", notice how the phrase goes, it is "#Give" before "#Take". So let's start by being a kind and truthful friend to your co-workers. Be a child again, drop the hate and the politics then start your path to a happier workplace. Who is your BFF at work?

#bff #happyerworkplace?#leadership #giveandtake #mentalmodels #kindness #employerbranding