This week’s pick of three interesting things has a people and relationships strand running through it. I won’t claim that’s by any kind of inspired intention…they were just the three most interesting pieces that made it on my shortlist for this week:

1. Your people are your worst asset​

Joe O’Mahoney has an interesting post about the relative importance of people and systems in the scaling phase of business. He argues that an over-emphasis on people, and in particular individuals, as founders grow their businesses can be counter-productive. He suggests that creating systems is more important to building a scaled business than building around individuals.

My take: This is something I 100% agree with. When scaling a business, it’s important to build out an organisational system that’s as independent as possible of the people who work within it. As Joe says, the priority needs to be turning the knowledge and experience people in the business into an organisational asset that can outlast any individuals working there.

2. Sincerity and longevity in relationships​

People typically assess the value of relationships by how long they last, but this article explains why longevity alone can be a poor measure of value. It suggests that sincerity – the willingness to be present, open, and engaged – can be the most influential factor in a relationship, regardless of its length.

My take: The FLUX Review is always good value for a thought provoking read. Their piece on sincerity and longevity in relationships got me thinking about the nature of relationships that are formed through work and how they can fall into one of the four categories set out in the article.

3. Desiring status ​

Status in organisations is a big deal, even in organisations that claim it’s not. This study has a fascinating insight that people with lower view of their own status are less likely to praise others for their work or contribution. The real gem is that by not praising others, they actually lower their own status – whereas if they’d acted against their intuitions and given the praise, they would have actually raised their own status.

My take: This got me wondering about leaders who struggle to give praise or credit to others. I’m hypothesising that being armed with this insight might give them an extra push to recognise others, thereby enhancing their own status as a leader.