A rising tide lifts all boats.
Originally used in reference to economic prosperity, the idea behind this adage can be applied to many areas of life, including your professional goals.
As you ride the tide of entrepreneurial or business success, look around at the other boats next to you—their success is your success.
Building and maintaining relationships is key to any type of professional achievement.
Here we’ll look at why success is a shared experience and the six reasons relationships empower achievement.
6 Ways Relationships Empower Professional Success
Between your friends, workout buddies, family members, partner, or book club members, your personal life is better with strong relationships.
And so is your professional life.
We can’t underestimate the power of connection to promote achievement and growth. Even more than that, community is essential for mental health and well-being.
Here are 6 ways relationships support your career success and why it’s important to cultivate strong bonds.
1. Networks
Your professional network can be the difference between meeting your goals and not.
A network is simply the people you know and interact with on varying levels. You can have a very close and intimate network of professional colleagues, friends, and mentors or you may be someone who eagerly connects with new people all the time.
Either way, your network supports and empowers professional success by:
- Introducing new opportunities, positions, or roles.
- Providing support, advice, and help.
- Connecting key people together.
- Deepening industry knowledge and skills.
Professional networking is a key coworking community benefit for solopreneurs or remote professionals who may not work alongside colleagues on a regular basis.
2. Mentorship
The benefits of mentorship are well-documented and finding a mentor is one of the best things you can do for your professional career. Mentors can:
- Provide knowledge and resources.
- Make valuable connections and introductions.
- Promote accountability.
- Offer encouragement and support.
- Help you create and maintain your career development plan.
But it’s not just one-sided.
Mentors also benefit from the relationship by expanding their leadership and communication skills. It also supports professional development and career confidence.
3. Generosity
You don’t have to believe in karma to know that what goes around comes around. If you generously help and support others, they will do the same for you.
Being generous with your time, resources, connections, and experience will position you to receive the same thing in return.
After all, most people are happy to help someone who helped them.
The key here is to be generous without expecting something in return—people can always detect insincere and selfish intentions!
4. Support
To be successful, you need help from other people. Even solopreneurs or the most ardent introvert will come up against a problem that requires outside support.
A community of supportive colleagues or professional acquaintances can:
- Help you solve problems or tackle challenges.
- Give emotional support through difficult times.
- Offer advice or wisdom.
- Provide hands-on services for your projects and tasks.
- Brainstorm new ideas or initiatives.
The simple fact is that you can’t do everything yourself—you need people. So finding a community of people to support you will be essential for success.
5. Celebration
Accomplishments are better shared with others. Whether it’s getting a raise, starting a new role, or landing a big client—you need to celebrate it.
Stopping and recognizing your accomplishments gives you the motivation, excitement, and energy to keep moving forward.
And, it’s always more fun to pop some champagne with other people!
Whether you celebrate with your friends and family or your colleagues, surround yourself with people who are just as excited about your success as you are—and vice versa.
6. Inspiration
Finally, connections with other people are a key source of inspiration.
And the good news is that even weak-tie relationships (i.e., your barista, LinkedIn contacts, or fellow coworking space members) can support professional success.
Relationships inspire professional success by showing you what’s possible. You can draw motivation from other people’s achievements and let it push you to do the same.
Some successful people make it seem like they got to where they are by themselves. They glorify the hustle and may minimize the contribution of others.
But we know that’s not an accurate picture of their achievements—we all need people around us. Becoming successful requires building relationships, being generous, and surrounding yourself with the right people.
If you want to join a professional community of people supporting each other’s success while they chase their own goals, you’ll find it here. Book a tour of The Post today.