Hi, how are you today?
Today is International Friendship Day. It was originally dreamed up as a way of selling greetings cards but has now been adopted by the UN as a day to promote friendship as a way of building bridges.
“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”
- Muhammad Ali
“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Friendship isn’t a big thing—it’s a million little things.”
- Paulo Coelh
I note it’s International Friendship Day and not International Friend Day. To me, that’s an important distinction. Friends are people, friendship is a mindset and a way of acting. I can show friendship to anyone I choose, from those closest to me, to someone I’ve only just met.
Humanity is one of our core values at AVC Immedia. In the everyday busy-ness of our business, we never want to lose sight of the fact that each of our colleagues is unique. We all deserve to be treated with respect and appreciation. It’s an approach that brings down barriers and builds bridges.
I have long-standing friends I see for a couple of hours every year. My colleagues are there for 40 hours every week. When acting with our humanity value, we create a virtuous circle. By showing others respect, support, appreciation and encouragement, I get the same back from them.
And guess what? The more I get back, the more I give out.
In our most recent staff survey, over 60% of our colleagues said the people they worked with is one of the great things about working at AVC Immedia. That’s awesome. I love the fact that my colleagues come in to work with people they enjoy being with. When we show friendship to our colleagues and build bridges with them, we create a team that is much more powerful than a collection of individuals.
It’s impossible to be friends with everyone we meet or work with, but it’s totally possible to show everyone friendship. It costs nothing, and from our experience at AVC Immedia, the return on investment is huge.
Written by Euan McMorrow, Content Director at AVC Immedia
