Business Quote by Steve Pavlina
“Treat your business relationships like friendships (or potential friendships). Formality puts up walls, and walls don't foster good business relationships. No one is loyal to a wall... except the one in China.”
About This Quote
Source Book: Personal Development Insights, 2015
Treating business ties as friendships encourages openness, trust, and loyalty, while excessive formality creates barriers that hinder collaboration.
In simple terms: Friendship style builds trust; formality builds walls.
Key Takeaway
Be open and personable in professional interactions.
Themes
trust
relationships
collaboration
culture
loyalty
Mood
engaging
reflective
Type
advice
motivational
When to use this quote
- team building
- client meetings
- networking events
- partner negotiations
Key Concepts
social psychology
organizational behavior
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you balance friendliness with professionalism?
- When does formality become a hindrance?
A Different Perspective
Too much informality can blur boundaries and cause misunderstandings.
![“[S]ometimes, when you are a food person, the possible irrelevance of what you are doing doesn’t cross your mind until it’s too late. (Once, for example, when I was just starting out in the food business, I was hired by the caper people to develop a lot of recipes using capers, and it was weeks of…” quote by Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d79/nora-ephron-1217_business_s-ometimes-when-you-are-a-food-person-th_980.jpg)
![“If the State does not acquire supremacy over [vast private] enterprises, it becomes their puppet, and they become the real State.” quote by Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/bad/bertrand-russell-69_acquire_if-the-state-does-not-acquire-supremacy_1379.jpg)