Friendship at work: Tom Rath on the most underused tool in leadership

People with a best friend at work are *seven times* more likely to be engaged in their jobs. Yet most leaders spend zero budget, zero strategy, and zero intentional effort on workplace friendships. Tom Rath has done the research to understand the power of friendship at work, and how leaders can better foster it. Topic Highlights:– Why Gallup's employee engagement prompt "I have a best friend at work" is its most predictive– The exact number of close relationships we actually need, despite high-achievers chronically under-building this number– Why Tom thinks his book about work friendships is his worst seller– The psychological barrier that’s creating a friendship recession for men in midlife – The "one coffee pot in the office" approach to designing workplaces that create connectionGuest Bio:Tom Rath is a workplace researcher, author, and one of the most widely-read voices on human wellbeing of the last two decades, with over 10 million books sold worldwide.Episode Links:Books by Tom RathThe Start-Up of You by Reid Hoffman True North by Bill George & Peter SimsLittle Bets by Peter Sims Connect with Us:theliftpod.comLet’s stay in touchSubscribe to The LiftFind Ben online: LinkedIn | InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.