Relationships: The Key Links to Life and Business Success

Driven by a need for change and new challenges in my life, my partner and I bought and ran a bed and breakfast in the Highlands of Scotland for 5 years.?It was a large 10-bed house, which needed major renovation, and at full capacity, 20 people were coming and going each day.?We were full-on renovating, creating a new business, and I was keeping another business ticking over.?

So many opportunities for conversations, connections and building relationships you might think? ?

It was one of the loneliest periods of my adult life.?

With such high demands on our time, the lack of staff, and the turnover of guests and rooms each day, I found it almost impossible to have deep, meaningful conversations that would lead to real connections and lasting relationships.?Many conversations were one sided, focussed on guest experience and ensuring they were equipped with local knowledge to explore.?In the quieter months, I do remember meeting, and having conversations with wonderful people for all over the world, but even these seemed fleeting and difficult to maintain beyond the moment, and there are few people I am still in touch with today.?

Now, I have sold the bed and breakfast and moved house, and I focus fulltime on my education consultancy and coaching practice.?I work from home and there could be several days where Cybbie the dog is the only living being I see in the flesh.?Lovley as Cybbie is, I crave human connection and actively seek it in multiple forms.

I meet people, colleagues, postgraduates, friends, in groups or one to one, online or by phone.

I also joined several business networking organisations; the Dundee and Angus Chamber of Commerce, the Aberdeen Business Network, the Federation for Small Businesses, and Women Ahead, and have really enjoyed being in a room with people again, on an equitable basis.?

I also meeting with a local group of sea swimmer, the Montrose Polar Bears, and we swim, cycle and walk.??I have growing social and professional group of friends and colleagues. ?And I got to be in the water with dolphins a couple of weeks ago!

Now I have time and energy to invest in building strong and lasting social and professional relationships.

As social beings, humans have an inherent need for connection, stemming from evolutionary survival pressure to belong to and fit in with a group or tribe.?People don’t thrive in isolation.

Relationships start with an opportunity for a conversation (aka networking), a mutual sharing of stories and experiences that build trust and respect.?And once connections begin, they overcome suspicion and difference.

In the business world, the ability to establish and maintain meaningful connections, conversations and relationships is critical for long-term success and growth. Relationships are the bedrock of effective teams and collaborations, fostering company cohesion and culture, and employee and customer loyalty, especially in challenging circumstances.?Positive relationships open access to new expertise, resources, opportunities, and markets, and can even reduce stress, lower the risk of depression, and enhance the overall well-being of employees.

Judith Glasser’s book ‘Conversational Intelligence’ is a wonderful and practical exploration of the use of conversation as the communication means to generate relationships founded in trust.

Conversations trigger our neurochemistry and produce a biochemical response.?The nerves surrounding our hearts are activated electrically and hormonally, and we can actually detect the electrical energy from another person.?

Glasser talks of the ‘Heart Brain’; when we are connected to another person, we feel safe, trusting, and open. ?We feel empathy for another and see their perspective.?We share knowledge, we make meaning, we learn and grow. ?

Glasser’s model shows that as trust grows, our relationship dynamics change and deepen, and our conversations move us from ‘I’ to ‘we’, ‘my’ ideas to ‘our’ ideas, with the latter being a place of discovery, innovation, and co-creation.?Great conversations and trusting relationships bring heart and humanity to organisations and workplaces.

Against a backdrop of changing workplaces and skills needs, predictions of talent and leadership deficits, and in this increasingly digital age, the power of genuine human connection and how relationships with people makes us feel, are the secret sauce for life and business success.

#relationships #connections #converstions #trust #success