Strategically Build Your Relationships

How do we build great relationships and why is it a vital component of leadership presence? Think of the relationships that have contributed to who you are today (personally and professionally). Who has invested in you and how can you provide that same gift to someone else?

In a time of social media, we recognize the power of connection. We used to think of advancement as vertical. Yet there are many ways to successfully advance our careers. Relationships provide a path to advocate for things we want and need and a vehicle to increase our learning.

Knowing that not all relationships are equal, how do we focus on the right ones? What are the key relationships that will help us achieve our goals? What relationships will expose us to people who can advocate for us or impact our trajectory? Spending time with someone with expert power can move us forward exponentially. And someone with connectional power can introduce us to places we may not even know!

Relationships move in two directions – we invest in someone and create a bond, and our gifts and attributes become visible. As we give and receive, everyone wins!

So what relationships are most important to you? And how do you become the kind of person someone wants to be in a relationship with? A few thoughts:

• Be “other oriented” – genuinely like other people
• Be the kind of person someone else wants to know
• Be generous, sincere, and respectful
• Show others your whole self – not just the business side
• Sincerely and intentionally get to know the other person – care about what matters to them
• Be happy for the other person’s success and the things that matter to that person

Pick a relationship that will increase or enhance your leadership presence. And pick a relationship where you can contribute to someone else’s presence. Use the tool below to acknowledge your current relationship and identify and move toward the relationship you desire.

At Optimum Impact Coaching we have created assessments, workshops and one-to-one coaching experiences to help leaders increase their skills in these areas.??For more information contact us at optimumimpactcoaching.com or connect with our coaches: Bonnie Maitlen, Ed.D.??BCC, PCC. | Roberta Fiore-Kittell, MCC ?| Kevin Logeman, MBA, PCC

Author: Bonnie Maitlen