Have you ever felt like you were 'put out to pasture' when you left an organization or position? Felt like the business relationships you built just didn't really matter?

In my professional life, I've built lasting relationships with people that will likely remain part of my life for the long haul. However, I've also invested time and energy and emotion into work-related relationships that literally ended the moment I left the building.

For those of you making career transitions, I'm sure you can relate. It's difficult at times to separate your relationships at work from real-life friendships, and often we feel that they are (and arguably should be) one in the same. However, it can be a cold reality to realize that is not always the case.

When you work alongside others in a business environment, you tend to build trust and loyalty (or at least you hope you do). And I'm a firm believer that trust and loyalty are huge benefits to an organization and its overall effectiveness. The hard...