Building Stronger Relationships

“We become our best selves when we surround ourselves with people who? want to see us flourish.” - Margaret Frothingham

Relationships are the building blocks to success in our careers.? When you look back on meaningful or joyful times at work or in life, how much does connecting with other human beings, sharing small wins and navigating through tough challenges factor into that???

Yet, the idea of networking in order to start those relationships can be daunting, especially for introverts.? As an introvert, I know and commiserate.? Yet, over the years, I’ve seen the power of learning, growing, and working towards sky high goals WITH others. ? So, how do we start????

In this two-minute video, I discuss these strategies and share how they transformed my relationships.

One is thinking about network not as transactional or a checklist activity.? Reframe it as the opportunity to know someone new, whom you can learn from, who can share new ideas, insights, and perspectives.? So, treating it as a discovery exercise in which you are on the lookout for the awesomeness in the other person.? From this perspective, it takes the pressure off of you.? Networking isn’t about you. ?It’s about discovery.

Another is to embrace spontaneous encounters.? Networking, the opportunity to meet those with the attributes above, can happen anywhere.? Some of the most meaningful connections have come for me not from any official networking events, but from me reaching out to someone whose work I admire and commending them on how their work has made an impact in my life.? Others have come introductions from mentees who have a friend whom they think can bring value into my world and vice versa.

Another is to? network beyond titles. ?It’s not about what you can do for them or what they can do for you, it’s about aligning with people whose values you admire and respect.? Without a sense of respect, it’s hard to build a true relationship.? Genuine relationships transcend career phase and titles. ? Just as you are more than? the company you work and the title you have, so are they.

And finally, look for ways in which you can add value to them.? Thoughtfulness doesn’t have to be groundbreaking value.? It can be something as simple as -? If there’s a topic you’ve discussed and you see an article on that a month later, send it to them.??

?I’m teaming up with AceUp’s Human-Centered Leadership? on this special issue of my newsletter because Ace-Up’s approach to growth is about helping leaders build relationships that are rooted in trust, an openness to new stories, and a commitment to constant evolution.? When they have coaches who bring these aspects to the forefront, they found that a significant number of the leaders improved their leadership, communications, and organizational skills.

Sharing My World

I'm still off of a high from a week in Switzerland for the Novartis Culture Leadership Advisory Board (C-LAB) meeting. In its second year, CLAB convenes external thought leaders and internal senior business leaders (Vas Narasimhan, Hannah Perry, Ingrid Zhang, Amy Edmondson, Linda Hill, Darren Shand, Dominique Gisin, Christian Marcolli Lisa Bodell Jean-Fran?ois Manzoni Rita McGrath Vyla Rollins Katherine Xin Rob Kowalski, Jose Marcilla, Jan Hansen, Angelika Jahreis MD, PhD, Muneto Mogi, Eden Wells, Kylie Potter, Paula Landmann, Lisa McGroarty Naylor), to put best in class practices and new perspectives into fostering a human-centric culture as Novartis transforms into a pure play innovation medicine company.

It's inspiring to see the experiments and programs that Novartis has launched in the past year to make its "inspired, curious, unbossed, and integrity" a lived experience for employees so together, they can better serve patients by Reimagining Medicine.

In a human-centric organization like Novartis, I’m always inspired by every colleague I meet. Not only are they among the most brilliant at their craft, they are among the most humble and compassionate.

It was also a joy to speak in a session on The Power of Togetherness, moderated by the fabulous Geraldine Wagner. I shared that what makes us different is what makes us invaluable. Collaboration and ERGs are the conduits to unlocking the value in those differences. When we engage with and work together with those who are different than us, our own world grows bigger and we can make the biggest possible difference.

Webcast to Novartis associates across the globe, we highlighted why togetherness is vital to Reimagining Medicine.

Our work in saving lives and developing innovative medicines can be possible and scalable only through collaboration with those with different skillsets, perspectives, experiences and superpowers than our own.

It was also energizing to do a fireside chat with Vas Narasimhan, Novartis CEO where we talked about the importance of awe moments, stewardship, and leading innovation.

From My Desk

The Secret to Bending Time? Cultivate Relationships

The speed with which we can engage with the right person can become the difference between failure and success. Relationships enable agility. Given the dynamic nature of problems and opportunities today, relationships are not only the connective tissue for teams, they facilitate agility with quick access to the right people at the right time. They amp up the speed to overcome obstacles and achieve breakthroughs that could not have been reached alone.

For more on this idea, see my new 600 word column "The Secret to Bending Time? Cultivating Relationships" in Dialogue Review.

Dialogue Review is published by Duke Corporate Education, recently ranked by Financial Times as the #1 corporate education provider in N. America. A premier leadership and management journal featuring insights from the world's leading minds and corporations, it reaches 1 million readers globally.

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