Relationships will outlive social media| Don’t leave your most important assets to Cyber-chance

I have always worked with technology. Originally, I enjoyed the #telecommunications industry and eventually added many industries that are now powered by #software (e.g. education, financial services, retail, etc.) to my marketing portfolio.  I firmly believe we can all benefit by using many of the fabulous tools to enhance our business practices and in some cases replace outdated tools.

HOWEVER, the exception is #relationship development and mastery.   On the cusp of the technology tsunami and evolution of the #cloud computing landscape, a fellow consultant and thought leader, James Masciarelli, published a book that outlined a competency model for Relationship Capital Management.  The book, PowerSkills – Top Level Relationships for Bottom Line results (published 2001) pre-dated  @LinkedIn (established 2002) and if the stars had aligned, they would have been perfectly matched partners.   #PowerSkills training should be a pre-cursor to anyone ever logging into LinkedIn or @SalesForce.com.  I give SalesForce.com credit certifying an app for the PowerSkills “Agenda” back in 2006.  But this was a small piece of the total.

Last week I had an opportunity to deliver one of the five “Powerskills” competencies (Hunting) at a workshop for a financial services entity in the Boston area.  Entrepreneurial and family businesses such as this one are nearly completely dependent on very long term relationship building, seeing their clients over many generations in some cases.  Yet, one of the questions that came up was – who else does this apply to?  The insinuation was, only a firm just like theirs would benefit from this type of framework.   Personally I can’t imagine anyone in business, with any title, that would want to ignore their relationships or not build a strong base over time.  Even if you really only did your job to do your job and get out of there at 5PM, chances are, you have a great side gig as a musician, artist,  landscaper, or second career that would require this skill set.  Today’s C-Levels all benefit from participating in client and partner relationships actively and all levels inside the company can help grow a business (and their own relationship capital) by applying these principles.

For better or for worse, the easy “connections” that can be made online have created a generation of professionals that have missed out on the basics of relationship management.   Likewise, some of our best “connections” or “VERY IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIPS” we may never even make online as they are so privileged that they don’t want to be acknowledged in that format. The recent misgivings of Facebook – and the dependence, more so personally for so many on this medium, just exacerbate the problem further.   What’s missing is the discipline around really getting to know people in all dimensions.

One of my favorite takeaways from PowerSkills is becoming a “talent” hunter.  By understanding everyone’s chief talent, we can find new ways to communicate and match up our complementary skills to help each other.  What is YOUR chief talent?  Perhaps you are not sure? Or maybe you are known for something that isn’t an accurate reflection of how you would like to be seen?  So this is a starting point and have some fun getting others to help you validate it.

Another key learning is all the ways we can interview and profile our VIR’s.   Once we have invested the time, over time, we can thoroughly understand the type of relevant activities, references, introductions, and content that will create a robust relationship.  LinkedIn is certainly a powerful medium for sharing this, but in another client engagement, it was obvious that we have to invest more time in understanding what it is that our VIP network really wants to hear about.

I believe that investing serious time in reviewing, sorting, and re-energizing relationships is a critical business undertaking.  It can make or break your future professionally on both the personal and organizational level.  I look forward to sharing this knowledge through Jim’s prescient wisdom, getting the PowerSkills books into the right hands, and delivering some of the messaging in my own practice as a business advisor.

Today’s C-Levels all benefit from participating in client and partner relationships actively and all levels inside the company can help grow a business & their own #relationshipcapital by applying #PowerSkills principles. Share on X