The answer is no. That’s maybe how things were done in the 1950s, but it’s not how things work in the new economy. Thankfully.
Keith Ferrazzi once again nails this in Never Eat Alone:
Contrary to popular business wisdom, I don’t believe there has to be a rigid line between our private and public lives.
Old-school business views the expression of emotions and compassion as vulnerability; today’s new businesspeople see such attributes as the glue that binds us. When our relationships are stronger, our businesses and careers are more successful.
Elsewhere he adds:
Real connecting insists that you bring the same values to every relationship. As a result, I no longer needed to make a distinction between my career happiness and my life happiness — they were both pieces of me. …
You can’t feel in love with your life if you hate your work; and, more times than not, people don’t love their work because they work with people they don’t like. Connecting with others doubles and triples your opportunities to meet with people that can lead to a new and exciting job.
I think the problem in today’s world isn’t that we have too many people in our lives, it’s that we don’t have enough.