Soup: A Recipe to Nourish Your Team and Culture

Chapter 32. The Enemies Are Busyness and Stress

That night, Nancy jogged around her neighborhood with her dog while her sons were at football practice and her husband took their daughter to dance practice. As she jogged, she was suddenly struck with an emptiness and sadness that stopped her in the middle of the road. She felt she'd been convicted by Grandma's and Peter's words. She realized she was one of the guilty ones. For years, she thought people should have their relationships outside of work, not at work. In fact, before Brenda, she couldn't think of one person she considered a friend at work. She believed in her marketing metrics and numbers and had shied away from getting too close to anyone—especially after her father had died. She had forgotten the lesson he taught her, not with words but in the way he coached and parented. He had built winning teams because of the relationships he developed, and he developed a winning family because his relationship with his kids was his number one priority.

Although Nancy did the same with her kids, she hadn't been spending much time with them lately. She planned to change this very soon, as soon as Soup, Inc., was running smoothly again. Thankfully, they were still a strong family, and it was because of the bonds they created. She knew these were the kinds of relationships that she and the leaders and employees at Soup, Inc., needed to develop with one another at work if they were going to transform the organization. She also knew that ...