Do you feel you are building good relationships? Are they the right ones? Are you spending your time effectively with the right people? Has Covid-19 focused you on this? It should have.

Everywhere we look, whether it’s reading matter or podcasts, most seem to be about Leadership or Building Relationships. There’s loads of other stuff too, I know, but these two seem to be the most prevalent subjects.

Not surprising really. They are what drive our businesses. The lack of being able to lead or being able to build relationships can severely jeopardize an organization.

I’ve always been proud of the way I build relationships. I have always been curious, asked questions, and been genuinely interested in other people’s perspectives, their history, where they come from, their journey and how they met their partner, and what makes them tick. I’m just nosy!

It turns out that is the best way to form relationships. To be genuinely interested in others and how can you help someone else? I worry that we have become so selfish, we really don’t care enough for others. It’s difficult to form relationships when all we care about is ourselves.

The problem with building relationships, REAL relationships, relationships that matter, is that we have to be vulnerable. What does that mean? We have to be honest, thereby risk hurting someone else’s feelings, be open to feedback ourselves and be open to criticism.

As Brené Brown said recently, “Clear is kind, unclear is unkind”. Or, be open and honest. Be kind, but provide an honest perspective, not just what the other person wants to hear.

If the relationship is worth having then the other person or persons will respect you being honest. If they don’t want to hear it or feel attacked, the relationship is not worth having in the first place.

So as you think about building your relationships, are you being open and honest. Can you provide and receive candid feedback, are you being clear? Are you genuinely interested in others and their point of view? That is the one thing that will build real relationships.

What are some of the barriers you have experienced in building REAL relationships? What have you done to overcome them?

 

Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash