Building a Relationship Between People & Their Craft Part 3

In the Previous Posts I laid the foundation for building a relationship between people and their craft. There are 5 dimensions to building a relationship between people and their craft. The first dimension is the relationship between the person and you.

The Relationship Between You and the Person

The relationship between you and your team members is the foundation. You are the key player in developing your team. In the first era of leadership, Centralized Leadership, building relationships with employees was discourage. You were the boss, and they were the employee.

In the Shared Leadership era we realized the importance of relationships and began training leaders to build a healthy working relationship with their team. In today’s era of Given Leadership, relationships are essential. Your team members will value this relationship when you do it right. It is very energizing when believe that you are on their team just like they are on your team. It shows mutual invested and ownership of the work relationship. Growth is easier and faster when they believe that you are there to help them push beyond what they thought they could do to discover a whole new level of growth.

As you build a stronger relationship with your team, be aware that they routinely ask four questions about you.

• Does my leader know who I am?
• Does my leader value who I am?
• Does my leader believe that I have what it takes?
• Is my leader willing to help me on the growth journey?

How they answer these questions will determine how emotionally invested they are in their role. Be aware that the most important element is what you do, not your intentions. I think most leaders have good intentions, but those intentions do not always translate into actions that make others believe you really care. It’s about what they see and feel with they are around you, not your intentions. Here’s how to ensure that what you intend is what they see. 

• Invest time to know their goals and dreams and how their role fits into their goals and dreams.
• Invest time to know about their family, hobbies, and interests and how their role connects to these key things.

To demonstrate that you value the people on your team, seek their input, affirm them in tactical specific ways, and address problems and issues quickly and constructively. In general, the way that you engage, collaborate, and problem solve with team members will determine how valued they feel.  When team members believe that you believe in them, they become more emotionally invested in what they do every day. Words and actions are both essential; but actions always speak louder than words.

When you equip people to excel by creating a common problem solving and decision-making

process that everyone uses, they trust you and the process more. When you build a plan to help them grow in their role it communicates that you believe in them. When they are struggling and you ask questions, listen, and help them build a plan of action, it signals that you see them as a valuable member of the team.

All of the actions listed above communicate your commitment to support people on the growth journey. Invest in their growth, and they will invest in your growth.