Relationships Matter

What drives individuals to go into professional services as a career destination??Is it the competition that forms against teams or other firms? Driving shareholder value? Perhaps it’s the opportunity to have a clear path to leadership? Most likely, you enjoy people and building relationships.?I would be willing to bet that most of you were attracted to all of the above.?But what truly gets you out of bed in the morning??For many, including myself, it is the latter that drives me each and every day and the rest are “nice to haves”.

Some industries are better than others at building deep and meaningful relationships.??Calling on your clients during the week, maybe taking them to lunch or happy hour from time to time is great, but does it really create a deep and meaningful relationship??Maybe, maybe not.?

So what does? I ask myself this question often.?It usually takes me back to the relationships that I have built over my life, both personal and professional. They all have their nuanced story of how they developed, but each one of them are rooted in the same foundation, trust.?Without trust, relationships are short lived, and trust needs to run deep on both sides.?This may sound rudimentary but in the world of professional services it often feels like it is neglected.?Telling the truth hurts sometimes, it may even hurt your shareholders in the near term, but relationships are not built on ease of near term outcomes.?Deep and meaningful relationships are built on deep trust for one another.?I’d like you to think back to when you were beginning a relationship with a friend or significant other.?Did you schedule every single conversation or meet up? Probably not, there was a level of spontaneity baked in with random meet ups, calls, texts containing funny anecdotal stories about your day or something that reminded you about the other individual.?In business, it is not too dissimilar although you might not be calling or texting just to tell a funny story.?However, calls out of the blue that are genuine and helpful to the other individual can go along way in building trust and a strong foundation for a long-term relationship.?Take the time to offer up information, content, or something of value, without expectations of anything in return.?

Another important variable to building trust is communication.?When building relationships both personal and professional it is important to have an open and honest communication line.?If you deliberately withhold information that you know is important to the other side, the discovery of this information can dismantle the trust that has been built to date.?Sometimes the trust is bruised but not broken due withholding information pertinent to the relationship.?At that point, going out of your way to make things right and repairing the trust is essential to save the relationship.?If the withholding of information was not maliciously intended, over communicating the reason might be useful to help the other participant understand the motive.?If it was malintent, perhaps you should go back to school or read a business ethics book.?

To the most seasoned relationship builder this may all sound so simple but sometimes it is helpful to be reminded of the basics.?Far too often, in professional services, honesty and integrity are superseded by self-serving or avaricious leaders.?In my humble opinion, doing the ‘right thing’ is the only currency any of us should trade on; because, at the end of the day, we all have to look ourselves in the mirror and like the person we see. If you don’t, it’s unlikely your clients will!