Working With Your Friends

About a week or so ago I wrote about a new book I ordered by Jonathan Fields. I started reading it recently and it is well worth the money.

Fields reminds us that we thrive better when we are around like-minded people. He states,

"Actually, the best part of being an entrepreneur is not the control you gain over wealth, but the chance to handpick the people you surround yourself with and create an organizational culture that is completely in sync with who you are."

He also shared some interesting statistics on friendship in the workplace compiled by Tom Rath, head of Gallup Organization Workplace Research:

• People with a best friend at work are seven-times more likely to be engaged at work.
• Close friendships at work boost employee satisfaction by nearly 50 percent.
• People with at least three close friends at work were 46 percent more likely to be extremely satisfied with their job and 88 percent more likely to be satisfied with their lives.
• Being around a boss was generally considered the least pleasant part of the workday. But, employees who are good friends with their bosses are more than twice as likely to be happy with their work.

We tell our kids to go to school or camp and "make new friends." The same effort can be applied in the workplace; it could have significant results on how satisfied we are with life.