Do you get the title or am I dating myself? If you are not familiar with the fun and wacky David Letterman, check him out on YouTube. I used to love his top ten lists every night and since my name is pronounced the same… well you get the connection.

Fun fact – I actually tried to convince my husband that we should pronounce our last name like LEAD-er-man since I am a leadership speaker, but as you’d expect, he didn’t go for it.

In the spirit of the giving season, I thought I’d give you Michelle Lederman’s Top 10 Reasons for Connecting:

Reason # 10:  Get a Job. Did you know 85% of jobs come from who you know? When I started doing this work it was around 60% and the number grows year after year and is even higher for those at the executive level. You can’t get a new job unless you hear about the opportunity. Often by the time a job is posted online, an internal candidate or a referral is already lined up for it.

Reason # 9. Get a promotion. You get promoted when someone behind closed doors decides you deserve it. What you need is for someone at the table to be your champion. People with mentors were five times more likely to receive promotions than people without them.

Reason #8. Get a new client. It can be tough to get clients and easy to lose clients if your connection is not strong. As we know, a poor relationship or a terrible customer service experience results in the loss of business and repeat clientele. We all have those companies we’ll never buy from again, based on how they treated us in the past or something that doesn’t quite sit well with us in the present. Our relationships with our customers or clients are SO critical. Not only do you want to have a strong relationship if something goes wrong, it can withstand the issue, but also, you want your clients to refer you to other clients. Which brings me to my next point.

Reason #7. Make a sale or get a referral. As we get more engrossed with artificial intelligence each day, right now, people still do business together and businesses need relationships too. People are four times more likely to buy when referred by a friend. Think of when you make a purchase or decide to buy. Do you consult reviews or ask for recommendations? The more connections you have the wider your web of positive recommendations for business will grow.

Reason # 6. Reduce your stress. I get asked about this one a lot as a coach. “How do I manage my stress or bring my stress level down?” Research shows strong social connections reduce stress hormones, and increase dopamine, which produces the sensation of pleasure. Connections don’t just feel good—they are good for us. Think of the bright spot in your day. Was it the coffee break with a friendly co-worker or a commonality you found with a new hire? These moments create connections and reduce our stress, even if it’s just for a few minutes.

Reason # 5. Be more influential. Building a rapport and finding common ground with others creates a focus on your effectiveness of building relationships and networks. There are multiple ways to be influential and if you are not in the power position, the subculture of your relationships is key. Think about how certain things get done. Is it always because the boss said to do it, or is it because you had the relationship with the inside person who helped you make it happen? You can be influential with group decision-making if you aren’t the one responsible by knowing who to go to for what reason.

Reason # 4. Be seen as more Innovative. Do you always just love Karina’s ideas? Insert the name of your co-worker who consistently brings her A game with awesome and innovative solutions. Now think, does it have anything to do with the connection you have with this person? The quantity and quality of your relationships predict how innovative you’ll be; it has to do with the way your ideas meet and are transformed by others. Does Karina elevate your ideas too? When you are liked as an employee, you are seen as more trustworthy and your ideas more credible.

Reason # 3. Live longer. Yes! It’s true. Connection matters enormously to your overall health, even to your longevity. In a study of more than 3.4 million participants, Brigham Young University professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad found social isolation and loneliness to have a greater impact on mortality than obesity, and lacking social connections carries a risk similar to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. People with greater social connections were associated with a 50% lower risk of early death in contrast to people who were lonely.

Reason # 2. Make things happen faster, easier & often with a better outcome. When you have someone to reach out to, or even the friend of a someone, the speed of your results is expedited just because you knew a person. Have you ever been on “a list” to get in somewhere? What happens, you cut the line and get right in. Have you ever sent a resume of a friend right to the hiring manager, avoiding the long application form and review process by a recruiter? Have you ever been upgraded to First Class and boarded the plane first? You are on the fast track. All of these connections make things happen faster, easier, and often with better results.

Reason #1: Be Happier. This is a big one because the term “Happy” is so relative and fleeting at times. However, overall relationships impact our happiness both off and on the job. According to the Journal of Applied Psychology, close work friendships boost employee satisfaction by 50% and predict happiness at work. In another study, Gallup found that people with a best friend at work are seven times more likely to engage fully in their work. Do you have friends at work? Is that the best part of your day sometimes? Happiness at work is another topic I constantly get asked about and speak about. If nothing else, make an effort to connect with someone to increase your happiness at work. It’s something within your control and might just change your whole outlook in a good way.

Not convinced yet? Read my book, The Connector’s Advantage and learn about these tips and more, in detail and how to apply them.