Life Threads

Friendship with Robert Waldinger and Shirley Cramer

Life Threads

Show Notes

Friendship is often treated as something we fit around the rest of life. But over a long working life, it becomes one of the relationships that most sustains us.

In this episode of Life Threads, Lynda Gratton explores what it takes to build and maintain meaningful friendships over time. She is joined by Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, whose research shows the powerful link between warm relationships, happiness and health. Later, Shirley Cramer, a long-standing friend of Lynda’s, reflects on how friendship is sustained across decades through attention, continuity and care.

Together, they ask: who are you choosing to stay connected to?

Host:

Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice in Organisational Behaviour, London Business School

Guests:

Robert Waldinger, Researcher, Author and Psychotherapist

Shirley Cramer CBE, former CEO of the Royal Society for Public Health

Chapters:00:40 Introduction01:43 Robert Waldinger on friendship, happiness and health06:37 Navigating work friendships and building trust16:47 Strengthening friendships and making new connections20:49 Shirley Cramer on sustaining friendships across decades32:43 Friendship at work and creating a caring culture37:12 Four tips for lasting friendships41:24 Lynda’s final thoughts

Mentioned in this episode:

⁠⁠⁠Living the 100-Year Life⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Life Threads diagnostic⁠⁠

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