Relationship Goals in Business

The Research

In 1938, Harvard researchers set out to answer a deceptively simple but profound question: What makes a good life? Eighty-five years later, after studying thousands of people across generations, the answer is resoundingly clear. It isn’t money, fame, or career success. It’s relationships.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life, began with 724 participants: two very different groups of teenage boys. One group were Harvard sophomores; the other were boys from some of Boston’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The study has followed them—and now their children and grandchildren—through marriages, careers, triumphs, and setbacks.

What’s emerged, according to current director Dr Robert Waldinger, is consistent and compelling:

“Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Full stop.”

People who feel connected, supported, and valued in their relationships not only live longer but enjoy significantly better mental and physical health. They’re more resilient in the face of life’s inevitable challenges, from job loss to illness. Crucially, it’s not about how many friends you have or whether you're in a romantic relationship. It's about the quality of the connections in your life.

In short, human connection is a better predictor of a good life than IQ, wealth, or even cholesterol levels.

The Context

This may sound like common sense; humans are wired for connection. But in a world obsessed with hustle culture, self-reliance, and ‘crushing it’, the idea that our wellbeing depends more on our relationships than our resumes can feel almost radical.

We’re encouraged to tough it out, stay late, lean in, and “fake it till we make it”. Yet the data keeps pointing in a different direction: it’s belonging, not bravado, that helps us thrive.

Many workplaces still treat belonging as a bonus or a side project, rather than a strategic imperative. But when people don’t feel seen, safe, or valued, the fallout isn’t just emotional; it’s physiological. Stress, burnout, disengagement, and high turnover all start to creep in. Inclusion isn’t a soft extra; it’s a hard necessity.

While the pandemic brought loneliness into the mainstream, many marginalised people have been navigating disconnection and exclusion in the workplace for decades. The Harvard study simply confirms what inclusion practitioners have always known: without real connection, we wither.

How is this relevant to the workplace?

So, what do we do with this insight?

For starters, we stop treating inclusion as a checkbox and start viewing it as central to business success and human thriving. That means cultivating cultures where people feel psychologically safe, where trust can grow, and where relationships are built on authenticity, not performance.

It means leaders who model vulnerability and empathy. Teams that are curious about the difference. Organisations that put relationships at the heart of how they operate, not just how they market.

It also means asking uncomfortable questions, like who isn’t in the room, whose voices are routinely ignored, and why that’s still happening.

Inclusion isn’t just about policies or percentages. It’s about how people feel at work. Are they seen? Heard? Valued?

If we want innovation, resilience, and wellbeing to thrive in our organisations, then we need to prioritise belonging. It isn’t fluff. It’s the foundation.

And if you're wondering how to do that, how to build inclusive cultures that nourish instead of deplete, well, that happens to be my favourite subject.