A recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal listed what they don’t tell you at graduation. The first item stressed the importance of the relationships you develop with others in school. Several studies also relate the importance of community participation to success. My own work with new graduates transitioning into their jobs also showed the importance of relationships for achieving success at work. Of all the things that new hires need to learn when starting a job, building high-quality relationships with others was found to be a primary driver of success on the job.
Developing an awareness of the importance of interpersonal relations in school and work is one of the objectives of our work in the College of Engineering at UIUC. In addition, I believe we need to develop the skills that lead to high-quality working relationships–not just hanging out with your pals. Also, the notion of developing a network of relationships is generally not perceived as the end, but the means for getting something else done. The structure of relations in which you work can leverage your abilities and your knowledge to accomplish things far greater than you can on your own or through traditional hierarchical team environments.