Research has shown that friends are essential to personal happiness and that the quality of our friendships has a huge impact on the quality of our lives. Friends help lift our moods and improve our health. Having at least four friends can even help us live significantly longer. In 2001, researchers at Duke University found that people with fewer than four friends were more than twice as likely to die from heart disease.

Friendship makes a big difference in the workplace too. Gallup research summarized in the book, The People You Can’t Afford to Live Without: Vital Friends found that having close friendships at work can increase satisfaction with a person’s company by nearly 50%. Those with a best friend at work are significantly more likely to engage with customers, get more done in less time, have fun on the job, innovate and share new ideas, and in addition to other benefits, are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs.

Friends can help us grow and develop, inspiring us to reach our goals and advance our careers. But, friends can also get us into trouble and make us miserable. Friends can lead us astray and losing a close friendship or being betrayed by a friend is very painful.

In order for our friendships to have a consistently beneficial impact on our lives, we need to surround ourselves with friends who fill vital roles, those who will exert a positive influence on us, whom we can support and receive support from in return, friends to enjoy and with whom we feel comfortable. So, what are the key roles our friends can play in our personal and professional lives and how do we make sure we surround ourselves with the right people for those roles?

Please come to the February 24th Women’s Leadership Roundtable and join in the discussion about essential friends and how we recruit the right ones for our own personal cabinets.

Please note: This is a “brown bag” event and it is recommended that participants bring their lunch to eat during the roundtable. We’ll also have beverages and popcorn or other snacks to share.

About the Roundtable: The Women’s Leadership Roundtable is a facilitated open forum for women, as leaders of themselves and others, to discuss relevant issues, build community and network, collaborate with, learn from, and support one another. It provides an opportunity for women to be heard, share their experiences, engage in thought-provoking discussion, and to generate ideas and growth together. The roundtable is an ongoing event, open to the public, held on the last Friday of every other month from January through September in a Denver area location. You are encouraged to attend as frequently as possible and bring your ideas, issues, and interests to the discussion. There is a $10 charge for the roundtable, paid in advance when registering online, and a $12 charge when paid at the door. For additional information, contact Karen McGee at 303-503-9681.