This is part of a series of articles on Social Excellence in the workplace called “The Relationship Business Series.” Because after all, we’re all in the relationship business. For more helpful content like this, sign up for (free) The 21 Days of Social Excellence.

by Matt Mattson

It's right there in front of you.

The most important real estate you'll encounter in your professional life.

I know it's not big. But that's the point.

Just 1 to 3 feet of space. And it could make all the difference.

All the difference in your career.

All the difference in your professional fulfillment.

All the difference in your workplace culture.

All the difference for you as a leader and supervisor.

All the difference.

According to social scientists, the average amount of space between people in a conversation is somewhere between 1 to 3 feet.

That space... the space between us... that 1 to 3 feet of real estate... it's everything.

If you focused a LOT more of your attention on how you fill that small amount of space, everything will change.

The way we fill the space between ourselves and our colleagues defines WHO we are as a professional.

Every deal you ever make will happen in that space.

Every mentor you ever have will make their impact in that space.

Every promotion you ever get will be because of how you fill that space.

Fill it with listening. Fill it with things that generate trust. Fill it with care. Fill it with curiosity, love, and vulnerability.

The best professionals are good at the real estate game. They invest in that small space over and over throughout their career. And that investment keeps paying off guaranteed dividends over time.

Welcome to this series of articles and videos we created for the business world: “The Relationship Business Series”. Because we’re all in the relationship business, aren’t we?

We’ve been teaching Social Excellence in corporate spaces, non-profit spaces, university spaces, faith spaces, and any space that will have us… for a long time. We wanted to create this simple series as a fresh way to think about the power of human connection in your career life. We hope you’ll enjoy it!