Building Better Relationships

Often we take people for granted, label them, brush them off, ignore them, or treat them poorly. I am definitely guilty of all of these. The sad thing is we have little to gain in life if we deny this fact that people are important. Indeed, our relationships in life play a huge role in our happiness and success.

People are much more than what their title, position in life, their “past”, or appearance makes them to be. When we judge others we may lose meaningful opportunities to learn and develop relationships. Yes, relationships are essential to a meaningful life, and the ability to build strong relationships is an important leadership trait. It is true that often we can learn just as much from others experiences as our own. Thus understanding the importance of relationships and learning how to nurture and develop them is imperative to us all. Below are a few simple ideas on how to build better relationships…

#1 Feel Important

Try to make other people feel important. This will go a long way in building stronger relationships. If we develop the ability to sincerely make others feel good about themselves, we will become great relationships builders. We can help others feel important by genuinely listening to them and taking sincere interest in what they have to say. We can make comments about what they are sharing and give compliments frequently. When we do this, others feel good and will want to be around us.

#2 Smile

A smile is so simple but it can have such a big impact on others. Smiles open the door to further conversations. Smiles express friendliness, compassion, enthusiasm, happiness, and acceptance. Smiles invite others to approach and get to know you. If we learn to smile, we will meet more people and make more friends. A smile provides a positive boost to any relationship.

#3 Really Listen

Listening is such an important part of relationship building because so few people actually really listen. There are many people who fake it, or only half-way listen; but if we can discipline ourselves and learn to really listen, we will be better relationship builders. And again, when we encourage others to talk and we genuinely listen, it makes people feel great. (see #1)

#4 Remember

To be honest, this sometimes can be one of my greatest weaknesses. Good relationship builders remember what they’ve learned about others. Remembering conversations, events, or anything that we’ve talked about before with someone shows we were truly listening and are interested and that we care. Those who have to ability to remember will become good relationship builders.

#5 Open Up

Some of us are closed and reserved and thus we don’t share a lot personal information with others. We engage in small talk and simply skim the surface of topics when communicating with others. Good relationship builders however are more comfortable in opening up, having deeper conversations with others, and showing trust toward others by sharing details and more personal information. When we learn to do this, become more open and comfortable with others, people feel closer bonds and a stronger relationship is developed.

So whether we like it or not, people are important! And the relationships we develop in life are critical to our success and happiness. We must strive to give each person we meet our sincere attention and listen to their experiences and opinions. Let’s start developing our relationship building skills today by following the simple suggestions above. As we do, we will become much more effective leaders and our lives will be blessed.