Return on Relationships

I watched a video today of Gary Vaynerchuk giving advice to the Vaynermedia interns for their last week. In it he focuses on how relationships with people have the highest return on investment.

In school, in an internship, at work, the skills that you are learning will almost never be as important as the relationships and trust you build with your peers or coworkers.

I’m a pretty introverted guy and have in many situations given up on opportunities to build relationships with people to pursue a thought, listen to a podcast, or read a book. I’ve focused on knowledge and skills and in many cases overlooked the value that exists in relationships.

There is one line in particular where Gary says “skills are commoditized, there will always be someone who can do what you can do.” and hammers home the point that it is relationships more than skills that will open doors in the future.

As we move into a software eaten world, relationships become even more valuable. For most basic skills, automation or cheap competition will weed you out. What cannot be commoditized is the level of trust and reliability that you build through your personal relationships.

A lot of people resent the fact that jobs often go to well connected candidates, but this overlooks the unique value that these candidates provide. They are more trustworthy and have more skill in the game because of their personal relationships with others at the company.

Gary closes off his advice by telling his interns to make use of their final week to say hello to as many people as possible. To introduce themselves and see where conversations go. To focus on the value that they can get from their relationships at work.

This is valuable advice for most young professionals. It can be easy to settle into a rhythm at work of doing your job and not engaging on any deeper level outside of your primary coworkers. This is the equivalent of not picking up diamonds on the ground while you are mining for gold.

Yes you should focus on your job and yes, you should keep learning new skills, but don’t forget the value of the relationships that you can build through your work.