Two weeks ago, I blogged about some of the people I get to work with. One of the best things about them was how we could be friends while working together.
When it’s working well, it’s perfect. You have fun at work and even more fun outside of it. Your productivity is higher than ever and you feel like together you all can take over the world.
But when it’s not working well, it’s hellish. The arguments get personal. Work and friendships are affected. When money is involved it gets even more ugly and sooner or later, both the work or the friendship have to end.
How do we keep it working well? The secret is simple. And the person with the power is surprising. (I heard this from Pinky Katipunan, our Operations Director in Every Nation.)
“I love working with friends, but I need to guard our relationship even more carefully. My supervisor is Jiji. She’s my friend. But our friendship is not license for me to slack off, be lazy, or get special privileges.
Instead, I work hard and do my job well. I don’t want to put her in a difficult position where she has to choose between our work and our friendship. This is why we can be friends and work together all these years.”
I don’t want to her in a difficult position where she has to choose between our work and our friendship.
That’s the secret. Friendship is not an excuse to be lazy. Instead, it should motivate us to work harder. And both our work and friendships will prosper as a result.
