If you want a hot tip on how to be successful in your career or business you had better understand how important it is to build and fortify your relationships. I was recently speaking at a conference and during some Q and A young lady asked me, how do I meet these key people that can help me build my business? Sadly, too many entrepreneurs believe if they would only show up more often to their local small business meet and greet or attend that networking seminar they heard on the radio, that they will discover the holy grail of partners, investors and mentors. I also run into many leaders who act as if they are far too busy working and jumping from meeting to conference call to have any time for lunch or to catch up over a beer. When I see people in both camps it makes me grateful that I “get it.” I get that my biggest assets are not, property, engravers, machinery or software. I get that I am very vulnerable and lacking without the people on my team, my family, and advisors. I also get that these relationships usually take a long time to build and then bear fruit both personally and professionally. I get that they usually begin by treating people with respect and by showing them with words and actions over time that I do in fact care about their health, their lives and their priorities.
Treating A Gold Star Family To A Day At Inde Motor Sports Ranch, Racing Cars.
As a young boy my parents taught me the “golden rule.” They taught me, “do onto others as you would have them do unto you.” Learning this lesson early on has really helped in building these key relationships in business but more importantly in life. You would be surprised at how much people will help you out and give you their time, advice and even the shirt off of their back, when they know you genuinely care. It is really easy to be there for people when our schedules are wide open and we have nothing on our plate. Sound realistic? I didn’t think so, because this is rarely the case for any of us. That is why I will often put people in front of tasks and responsibilities. I won’t lie to you this isn’t always easy, but I have found that investing in people is the best investment I can make. Just recently one of our manufactures got really sick right after rolling out the first small production run of our newest product the Bottle Breacher pen. His health got so bad that the docs had to amputate his leg. I MADE TIME, a couple times a week to go visit him in the hospital. Though I did realize that production on the pen had come to a halt and the possibility of having to start from scratch, I never brought it up during our visits at his bed side. The pen and my business are very important to me but not as important as my friend and our relationship. I wanted to show him with my time and actions that he is very important to me and so is our relationship.
Treating This Little Man To A Special Day At Bottle Breacher HQ. He Was Well Enough To Hang After Chemo.
In case you’re confused most of these relationships aren’t built overnight. Most people won’t waste their time lifting a finger for you until they feel they have a good feel for who you really are. That often requires them to observe you and how you act and treat others in all different types of environments and situations. They are usually looking for honesty, integrity and a mutually beneficial relationship. This can often take years. Sometimes this extreme vetting isn’t necessary if you have solid references from people that do go “way back” and have already built that relationship who will sing your praises or help convince key people to give you a chance. This is why “they” say it’s not what you know, but who you know. Going back to the beginning, I am not against small business groups or seminars. My point is that building these relationships is less about where to look for them and more about how to treat people in general. You just might find these people at seminars or at connect groups. You might even find them at church or in your car club. Finding them isn’t the difficult part. Building the relationship is where the rubber meets the road. You see, sometimes it’s the people you least expect to have influence and knowledge that are actually reservoirs of resource. If you make treating everyone the way you want to be treated your mantra, then these people and relationships will form themselves naturally and organically. Always remember, “People don’t care how much you know until, they know how much you care.”
