The Power of Relationships
Posted on January 29, 2013 by Paul Monahan, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.
How to build stronger bonds by engaging differently.
In business, as well as in our personal lives, the quality of the relationships we build with others is critical. Why? Because the thing that causes others to join with us on a venture, or to pull together with us on a project is a little thing called TRUST.
Most people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care – which means that they need to know that on some level, you have their interest at heart. As a leader, the more you can express to others on your team that you care about THEIR needs, the more effective you will be at influencing their actions toward the team’s goals. Why? Because you will have earned their TRUST.
Most of us were taught that in order to win as a leader, you simply needed to tell those around you what was important to you…to show vision, decisiveness, and authority. While those can be effective leadership qualities, today’s most effective and efficient leaders know that engaging with the other person’s motivations in mind first is critical to building strong relationships…and successful projects.
These leaders spend more time asking about OTHER’S needs instead of telling people all about their own. The result? The people around them are profoundly influenced to act on their behalf because they TRUST they are valued in their organization.
Sound a little too fluffy for you? Believe me…try it today. The next chance you get to engage a colleague or direct report (or even a spouse!), don’t tell them what YOU want, until you’ve had a chance to hear from THEM fully about what they want or need.
