The success of all you do and all of who you are is based on the people you interact with. From your personal habits influenced by your parents to the manager role you were given by a supportive supervisor. In this life, the blaring reality is that people need people.
“It’s not what you know it’s who you know that helps you climb the ladder of influence.” Guess what it’s true, but it doesn’t mean you have to walk over everyone to get to the next step. Creating personal and professional relationships is secret sauce to creating impacting relationships, not just impressive ones. Impacting relationship – A relationship that assists in making your life or what you’re a part of better.
To create these impacting relationships, you must flip the formula. You don’t have to be in the corporate business world to have professional relationships. Professional relationships are all around you every day. Maybe it’s your son’s football coach or your daughters ballerina teacher. The city manager that you took a picture with when your church sponsored the health for the homeless event in the city. They are all around us, and yet we don’t know how to manage them because they don’t speak like us or believe like us.
Most relationships start professionally and move into personal ones. My challenge to you today is to switch the variables. Create a personal relationship that benefits them professionally. How do we do this?
1
They Are People First
People get awestruck when they talk to people that they think have great influence. Where influence is something to inspire it should be something that shouldn’t expire the confidence to approach a person. In their lifetime, every person at some point has been excited, frustrated, sleepy, inspired, hungry, angry, some people even HANGRY (hungry & angry). Remember no matter how impressive their accomplishments may be, they are till just a person with a position of purpose.
2.
Find Common Ground
I fly a lot, and there is a quick routine as you board a plane before the person sitting next to you does. After you’re seated, you tend to wonder if anyone walking on is the one that’s going to sit next to you. Some you pray do, others you pray don’t. Whoever it is, I typically engage in a small conversation while on the ground so I can find common ground. “What’s your final destination today?” “Alabama!” “Oh cool, I have family in Alabama.” #commonground. Common ground is the piece of the conversation puzzle that starts to stitch people’s purposes together. Every time you find more common ground your relationship island gets bigger and bigger. Walk into their office and see what’s on the walls or desk. Family pictures with kids the same age as yours? Favorite football team decor? A diploma from a school that you or a friend graduated? Whatever it is, I promise there is common ground to find. The common ground keeps things solid when situations get rocky.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Common ground is the piece of the conversation puzzle that stitches people’s purposes together. ” quote=”Common ground is the piece of the conversation puzzle that stitches people’s purposes together. – Andrew Burchfield”]
3. Connect Outside Of Purpose
“Use and abuse.” The unspoken motto of professional relationships. Everyone has that person that ONLY calls when they need something. Don’t be that person! You’re creating a relationship, not a business transaction. Remember birthdays before Facebook tells you. Send a text or a phone call with a “Hey, thinking about ha and appreciate all you do. No response needed I know you’re busy.” When you make impactful investments, you’ll see intentional interest built when it’s time to withdraw. Help promote what they are doing. If they are looking for new clients and you know someone that may work, make the introduction.
Introductions are the most influential things
we can do for the industry we are called to.
4.
Just Talk Normally
I’ve seen people walk into a room where a “big time preacher” is only to change their entire persona by using big Bible words, numbers and stats of all they’ve accomplished, and of course, they always try to finish with something that will selfishly help them go to the next level. Don’t do that. Just be you. Enjoy the opportunity and the conversation. Real professionals recognize other true professionals. They can’t recognize what you’re not. Speak in a language they understand. The superintendent of the school system might not know why you want to “So seed into the band program with new iPads so you can reap the harvest of the Joshua generation.”
Please…just talk normally.
