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

I was talking with my business partner, Josh, the other day. He's always tuned into a different frequency than I am, and I love learning from the way his mind works. We were talking about the changing dynamics of the workplace (probably sparked by us both feeling really old around a bunch of young Gen Z employees who are out-working, out-thinking, and out-hustling our greying selves).

Anyway, he said this, "A phenomenon I don’t hear anyone talking about is that entry level work is digital... work from home stuff. Mid-level work is managing digital and remote workers. But C-level work is still largely personal. It’s still who you know. Ignoring Social Excellence is accepting something like a digital glass ceiling on most people’s careers. While everyone may work from home, Social Excellence may be the difference between the traditional cubicle job and the metaphorical corner office. The C-suite, small business owners, start up founders, VCs, and major players of tomorrow will be the ones who embrace Social Excellence principles today."

He's smart.

There's a Digital Ceiling that is being built right now. Made up of invisible ones and zeroes. Made up of people choosing to work from home. Made up of the comfort of digital-only work.

Not that working from home is a bad thing.

It's just that it is limiting.

Today's young workers will have to work really hard -- harder than ever -- to build the relationships that will prepare them for ascendency up the ranks. Today's young workers will have to do more than walk few offices down, or take the elevator up to the 7th floor... they'll have to actively build and sustain real relationships.

Historically, the corporate world has looked at Social Excellence training as a "nice to do." I believe they called it "soft skills." Now, it seems more essential than ever that we know how to build personal patterns of behavior that will lead to real relationships (that will lead to you building the career you dream of).