24 | Let's Recap

Camaraderie Month Wrap-Up: Your Next Steps

Welcome back. We've covered a lot this month, and I want to take a few minutes to bring it all together and help you move forward with clarity and confidence.

What We've Discovered

Let's start with what we know: Camaraderie equals mission plus relationship.

It's that simple. And it's that profound.

When you have high mission but low relationship, you create a culture of coworkers. Efficient, productive, but emotionally distant.

When you have high relationship but low mission, you create a culture of friends. Warm, connected, but lacking direction and purpose.

When you have neither, you drift into that high school reunion feeling—awkward, disconnected, going nowhere.

But when you nail both—when you build deep relationships AND unite around meaningful purpose—you create comrades. You create the kind of team people look back on years later and say, "That changed me."

The Path We've Walked

We started with you. Because camaraderie always starts from the inside out.

You learned to identify which side you naturally lean toward. Are you more mission-driven or relationship-driven? Neither is wrong, but knowing your tendency helps you make deliberate choices to balance things out.

We talked about the 5 Gears—that framework that helps you become more self-aware of what gear you're in and what gear the moment needs. Fifth gear focus. Fourth gear tasks. Third gear social. Second gear connection. First gear recharge. And reverse when you mess up.

Then we moved outward to building camaraderie one person at a time. You learned to identify each person's camaraderie language—do they connect more through mission or relationship? And once you know that, you can make small pivots each week to build 1% more connection.

We got practical about leading people who lean relational—they need connection first, then mission. And we got practical about leading people who lean missional—they need vision first, then relationship.

We explored what to do when you find yourself or your team stuck in one of those challenging quadrants. How to move from coworkers to comrades by adding relationship. How to move from hangout culture to comrades by adding mission. How to escape apathy by taking one small step in either direction.

And we went big—talking about how to scale camaraderie across large organizations, remote teams, family businesses, and even in your first 90 days as a new leader.

The Three Questions

As we close out this month, I want you to think about three questions:

First: Where am I right now?

Take a minute and plot yourself on the camaraderie matrix. Think about your key relationships—your team, your family, your closest colleagues. Are you in the coworkers quadrant? The friends quadrant? Somewhere in the middle? Be honest about where you actually are, not where you wish you were.

Second: What's my one gap to close?

You don't need to fix everything. You just need to identify the one thing that would move you closer to true camaraderie.

If you're low on relationship, maybe it's starting your next meeting with 5 minutes of genuine connection. Maybe it's calling someone just to check in, no agenda. Maybe it's asking one follow-up question that shows you're really listening.

If you're low on mission, maybe it's sharing vision with your team this week. Maybe it's connecting someone's daily work to the bigger impact you're making. Maybe it's having that conversation about what you're all building together.

Third: What's my next small step?

Camaraderie is built like a garden, not painted like a masterpiece. It's small, daily actions over a long period of time.

So what's one small thing you can do this week? Not a grand gesture. Not a complete overhaul. Just one 3-minute moment that moves you 1% in the right direction.

The Vision Worth Fighting For

I want to leave you with this image: elephants rallying together, backs to each other, facing outward as one unified force.

That's what we're building. A culture where people know they're not alone. Where they trust the person behind them has their back so they can focus all their energy on what's in front of them.

Where your team doesn't scatter like sheep when challenges come. Where you rally together, automatically, because that's just who you are.

That's camaraderie.

And here's what I know about you: you're not waiting for someone else to start. You're not waiting for perfect conditions. You're going first.

You're the person who sticks around when things get tough. You're the person who protects someone else's back. You're the person who goes first in vulnerability, in thinking of others, in fighting for team.

Yes, you'll get hurt sometimes. Someone will let you down. But you're here to set a tone. You're here to be the change you want to see.

And one day—maybe not today, maybe not next week—but one day, someone will join you. All in. 100%. They'll choose to have your back. And in that moment, you'll feel it. The essence of team. The essence of camaraderie.

And then it multiplies. Because culture is created when just two people commit to this way of operating together.

Your Assignment

Here's what I want you to do in the next 48 hours:

Step 1: Spend 10 minutes mapping out where you are on the camaraderie matrix with your key relationships.

Step 2: Identify your one gap. Is it mission or relationship?

Step 3: Take one small action this week to close that gap by 1%.

That's it. Don't overthink it. Don't try to solve everything at once. Just one small step.

And if you want to talk through your specific situation, if you're stuck on where to start or which direction to move, click that chat button and reach out. I'd love to support you in this.

The Final Word

Building camaraderie isn't just about creating better teams or more effective organizations. It's about honoring how we were designed as human beings.

We were made for both purpose and connection. We were made to pursue meaningful work alongside people we genuinely care about. We were made for camaraderie.

When you build it, you're not just making work more pleasant. You're creating environments where people become more of who they were meant to be.

Where they bring their full selves—their creativity, their questions, their unique perspectives.

Where they don't just show up to do a job, but to contribute to something that matters.

Where they wake up knowing they're part of something bigger, and they're not pursuing it alone.

That's worth fighting for. That's worth the daily investment. That's worth going first.

So go build your garden. Make those small deposits. Stay curious about the people around you. Keep clarifying the mission. And watch what grows over time.

You're not just building teams. You're building comrades. And the world desperately needs more of what you're creating.

That's all for this month. I'll see you next month when we dive into embracing healthy conflict—because comrades don't avoid the hard conversations, they lean into them with trust and care.

Until then, keep building. One small action at a time.

I'll see you soon.