Shipulski On Design

When you see others get promoted, what do you do?  Do you beat yourself up because you didn’t get promoted?  Are you happy for them?  A little of both?

When someone you worked with for a long time gets a wonderful new role outside the company, what do you do? Do you hold onto the fact that things will be harder for you because they won’t be there for you?  Do you worry about the organizational gap that you’ll be asked to fill? Do you actively celebrate their good fortune and praise them to the sky?

When you work with someone for a long time, you build trust.  And trust allows you to have difficult conversations.  You can talk about the real deal.  You can discuss situations that have strong emotional energy. You can get to the real root cause, however inconvenient.  You can share your fears and struggles.  You can support each other in bad times and celebrate success in good times.  When you have trust, it’s less lonely for both of you.

When the person you work with for a long time is a pro, they teach you because you are willing to learn from them.  And you teach them because they’re willing to learn from you.  They elevate their pro-ness, and so do you.  Sure, it feels good to both of you, but it also feels good to the broader organization.

When you work with someone for a long time, you invest in each other.  You don’t keep score; you simply invest.  They need some investment, and you give it freely.  And when they need some investment, you don’t hesitate.  You grow from the giving as much as the receiving.  This respectful give-and-take ratchets up performance on both sides of the interaction.

I think working with someone for a long time creates immense value.  However, I think it’s difficult to measure and takes time to develop and yield fruit.  I don’t think companies can effectively calculate the return on investment of its people working together for a long time, but that’s okay.  There is great personal value that comes from working with someone for a long time. And I think that’s reason enough to find someone to invest in for the long haul.

Image credit — Veit (Can I trust you?)