Entrepreneurship development: Relationship management (IV)

Over the last three weeks that we started this series on Relationship Management, we defined the concept and brought out some of its benefits in our professions and lives. Today, we will conclude the series with a few more principles and practices of building healthy and beneficial relationships.

Mentor your juniors: As individuals, we can be lucky to work for some sixty to seventy years over our lifespans. But even at that, our hyperactive working lifespan is actually no more than some forty years. That means we can easily see three generations taking over the national and global economy and politics in our lives. One of the ways to add to your contributions in these natural transitions is to mentor those behind you in your company, industry and local communities. Those of us in our midlives now can easily remember those bosses that held our hands and taught us the tricks of our businesses and life when we were starting out on our careers. We remain endlessly grateful to them. Do the same to the young people in your office and community and in just twenty years you will see them at the top of their careers.

Support the team: Building relationships is about connecting, engaging and adding value to the lives of others. One way to add value to peoples’ lives is by supporting them in ways that matter to them. In the workplace it may be about teaching a subordinate how to improve on their supervisory skills; It may be about helping them on a report they are running late on; It may be about joining the young marketing officer on a call to a prospective client. The more you can help out, the more value you can add to others. This, however, is not about you not doing your work whilst you are busy ‘helping’ others out; It is also not about doing other people’s job. Rather, it is about doing your job and then supporting others through limited but valuable interventions.

Communicate: In the second part of this series, we specifically discussed ‘listening to others’ as being integral to building healthy relationships. However, listening to others is one component of communication in which we serve as ‘recipients’ of some information. The other component is when we serve as ‘senders’ of information to others. As senders, we provide all types of information through various media. Sometimes we communicate concepts, stimulatory, empirical, policy or directive information whilst other times it is objective or subjective information we may communicate. Regardless of what type of information and which medium we may use, there are certain standards we must maintain. They include clarity, completeness and conciseness of the message. Similarly, you should be empathetic to the listeners’ situation and ensure that you get the feedback you require to ascertain their understanding. Over and beyond all that, there must be complete purity in the information you are providing. In other words, whatever information you may provide must stand third party and independent tests of integrity.

Be positive: Daily, each one of us goes through a lot. Good things happen to us as well as what we do not desire. The tendency, therefore, is that we all go through a daily rollercoaster of emotions to varying degrees. To create some level of control through stability, we need to be able to compartmentalise the things that happen to us. One way to do that is to ‘resolve’ on being positive regardless.

Our positivity does not only help us go through the challenges a lot more easily, but it rubs off on others and also helps them go through personal or common challenges. It is the same reason we also like being close to upbeat and optimistic people even when we may disagree with them in matters of detail. Being positive and upbeat strengthens and motivates us as they do those near us.  

Learn to resolve conflicts: Conflicts do occur amongst people in our private and work lives. Conflicts may occur due to several legitimate and wrong reasons. Whatever the reason, the smart entrepreneur and leader must understand the cause, the issues, the personalities involved, as well the environmental and situational contexts that everyone is operating within. Developing your conflict-resolution skills will make it easy for you to help sort out matters before they escalate, hurting relationships and productivity.

With a good understanding of situations and people, we can always help resolve potential, emerging and full-blown conflicts. The way to succeed in that is to be understanding of the people and their perspectives; It is to be sincere and well-meaning; It is to be respectful and even discreet if appropriate.

Give out gifts! People like gifts and they like those that give them! Interestingly, it is not necessarily about the value of the gift that makes most people happy. Instead, it is the kind thought behind the gift that really matters to most people. Giving out affordable gifts from time to time binds relationships. Inculcate that habit in dealing with your family, friends, and business colleagues

This concludes our series on Relationship Management. In simplest terms, what we should take away is that building healthy and rewarding relationships is about mutual confidence, trust and respect through sincerity, well-meaning and adding value to the lives of others as well as helping them enhance their productivity. In a workplace, it improves morale, makes teamwork effective, and supports personal growth. Next week, we will take up one of the most important factors of business and life success: Time Management.