Something has been brewing around the world for the last few months and it’s manifesting into what I see as the biggest trend for 2026.
Building communities and connections.
You may recall one of my newsletters from last year talking about the book reading group in California with a 6 week waitlist…
Well, there’s more happening here – a lot more.
Not so much a small group of people getting together to read books, rather more gatherings and more inclination (and encouragement) to organise different ways of reconnecting and building relationships.
But first there is the hurdle of fear to climb over.
Over the last six years we’ve become isolated and lonelier, sometimes cripplingly so.
It’s become – and felt – harder to build trust, meet new people, explore interesting ideas and gain insights and feedback.
Leaders have become shy and employees are fearful of reaching out – many not knowing what to do or how to go about it.
Our social skills have eroded, along with our confidence and ability to initiate conversations.
It’s all become a bit scary.
Working from home is a problem
While brilliant at times, it takes us off the patch and out of circulation with others and makes our interactions more transactional.
The current average of 2-3 days a week has been a disaster for young professionals who benefit enormously when learning from others, listening, observing and being pulled into serendipitous opportunities.
It’s negatively impacted the leadership skills of middle managers.
It slows down decision making and impacts productivity, and it’s also perilous for stakeholder engagement and – dare I say it – the visibility that’s essential in building stakeholder confidence.
So what can we do about it?
Why does it matter?
Who can we learn from that will give us the pathways out of this mess and help us confidently foster stronger relationships and connections in our professional lives and beyond?
I could write tomes on this but I’ll keep it brief in the interests of outcomes and I’ll share who I’m looking at for inspiration too.
First up, know this one thing: it’s Networking Season!
A time in the year when doors are opened, people have their heads up and they’re thinking about the coming year, what’s possible, what they want, what they need to learn and achieve and how they might go about it.
It’s the perfect time to proactively connect with people, initiate meet-ups, coffees and build relationships with interesting people.
When you’re a bit rusty, too busy or are wondering how to go about it, this is the path of least resistance – once you step away from that conversation that’s currently going on in your head about not having time…
Networking Season is a wonderful thing for anyone feeling isolated from their peers or stuck in the disconnection rut.
From a business perspective, it’s a string to your marketing bow and a great way to enable professional development without a massive budget.
It’s iterative and promotes the test and learn approach that entrepreneurs live and breathe, but corporates struggle with.
I’m working with teams who are feeling the pinch here, who need encouragement, confidence and simple ways of building connections, learning and feeling inspired.
Here are a few things we’ve been doing as well as what I am hearing and seeing across Australia and the rest of the world.
What to do
- Organise a blend of small gatherings, lunches, coffees, even dinners
- Attend an event a month
- Make one professional connection a week
- Bring your team together for learning/inspiration opportunities – we did this last week with a Ben Crowe webinar. The feedback has been fantastic.
The secret here is in the ‘doing’ not the overthinking, being intentional and making it a habit.
Who to look to
- Ben Crowe has a new book, “Where the Light Gets In”. He doing stacks of podcasts too – all easily accessible
- Priya Parker, “How to host an all-hands that doesn’t suck” and “10 lessons you can borrow if you want more community in your life”. Check out her Substack newsletter for some thought provoking ideas
- Esther Perel: “Friendships Drift. Here’s How We Find Our Way Back”. She’s also on Substack and has lots of readily available material online
- Adam Grant: “Give and Take”. I love this as an audio book and listen when I’m walking my dogs, it’s a great way to think about how you connect with others
I hope this inspires you and your teams to go out there and engage, connect, listen and learn and to find some joy in the process along the way.
It won’t do our social cohesion any harm either.
Nina
PS Would love to hear what you’re seeing and doing to connect.