When you spend so much of your time at work, having a team that you trust is important. It’s often not only about the work you’re doing, but who you’re doing it with that matters. The friendships you form at work can span decades, or last just a few years. But that sense of camaraderie, of community, is unmistakable. 

This was evident last weekend when I joined my wife at the wedding of one of her former colleagues. There were a large number of people from the former team there, and it was great to watch all of them reminisce, chat and inquire about each others’ families and pets. You could tell that there was a real connection there, something that transcended work.

This week, I got the news that one of my mentors, someone who helped me greatly early in my career, passed away. As the texts from former colleagues, many of whom I haven’t spoken to in years continue to pour in, I feel that familiar connection, forged in late night work sessions and impossible deadlines. 

It got me thinking about how important these circles are. Not just mentors or coworkers. Communities. The people you grow with, fail with, laugh with, and eventually lose together. It’s easy to think of your  career as a ladder or a solo climb, but the truth is, everything good I’ve been a part of came through people. Through the shared history of doing real work together.

Projects come and go. Titles change. But the people you build with stay with you, sometimes in ways you don’t even realize until years later. The late-night deadline that turns into a lifelong friendship. The boss who pushed you harder than anyone else, and later becomes someone you call for advice. The colleague you mentored who ends up teaching you something when you’re stuck.

We underestimate how much these connections matter until something big happens. A celebration. A loss. And then you see it: the real value isn’t the job title you had. It’s the people you had it with.

If you’re lucky, your professional community spans more than one kind of experience. The best teams I’ve been part of included people with different backgrounds, voices, and ways of thinking.  Community isn’t just about comfort. It’s about tension, challenge, learning. It’s about knowing someone will call you out when you’re missing something, and have your back when you’re not.

Sometimes community looks like a group text that’s survived three companies, two weddings, one funeral, and a lot of memes. Sometimes it’s a quick check-in with someone you haven’t worked with in years but still trust deeply. Sometimes it’s showing up: physically, emotionally or logistically when one of your own needs you.

The longer I do this, the more I realize that the work is never just the work. It’s who you do it with. And what you build with them, beyond the deliverables.

So keep your people close. Stay in the group chat. Show up at the wedding. Make the call. 

You’ll be glad you did.