In leadership as in life, people play a central role in the success of what we do. We build careers and companies on the relationships we have with them, being family, friends, colleagues or partners.
Certainly other forms of connection may lead to pressures and influence, but the human relationship continues to create value for all of us and dominates our way of thinking and doing business.
In a nutshell we live in a connected environment where communication is sovereign, in a form or another.
The power to change our organisations, society and corporate culture has less to do with the power structures we have established, and more to do with a genuine willingness to focus on people.
Some time ago, has been measured that the classic theory of the six degrees of separation has changed: using social media so far there are less than four people away from someone else. In pure theory, this would suggest that tackling challenges should be as easy as a snap of the fingers: we’re all only a few degrees apart, we could make a few calls, ask for an introduction or two, and get what we want.
But let’s park that idea for a moment. Let’s take a look in our company. Let’s look carefully at what consequence this change in relations can have.
Within our organizations, we should be more connected, but often we are not. As leaders we often think about the problem that needs to be solved rather than the situation that requires a relationship. For example, if there is a performance problem for an employee, very often the focus is on solving the problem instead of intervening on the person, for example by defining the expectations on the employee in the role.
Changing the perspective, in this type of situation, we can bring our communication skills and emotional intelligence to support a situation: we can use our closeness and our relational power to break the deadlock. Very often, people are not a “problem to be solved” but simply a relationship to be managed.
We often underestimate the power of communication and relationships, yet our private and professional lives are dominated by both. Tapping into this power can unlock tremendous value for our employees and organisations, saving time, money and most importantly, improving climate and behaviours.
