8 Concepts for Professional Relationship Success

T

oday, our complex and highly involved society requires us more and more to depend on professional relationships for our success.  Understanding teamwork and how to make it happen is the mark of excellence for every performer. Harold Ramis says that professional relationships are simply more enjoyable when we achieve together.  Not only that, if we want our relationships to grow, we have to be in the process of winning.  If you agree with these notions then you’ve probably been on a winning team before.  You’ll understand the rules and exercises below and be prepared to climb the ladder of trust to high quality professional relationships. So let’s get up off of the ground floor and get started.

The 9 Step Ladder of Trust

Rules to Remember

Professional relationships are always personal

·         The sacrifice of time and conscious effort makes it personal even when there are no fixed cost

·         You can’t have two equally important primary commitments

·         It hurts when ones priority for the relationship is seems bigger than another’s

Relationships feel good because they are good

·         People need to belong to something meaningful

·         It’s fun so see each other grow

·         Conquering obstacles together gels a team

·         Warning: Speed Kills.  You’ve got to move fast enough to be relevant and slow enough to be real

Results must be meaningful to everyone

·         Without meaning success is hollow,  short lived and unsustainable

·         You have to agree on everything that you have to agree on: the relationship, the roles, the principles.  It’s the ultimate collaboration.  A good question to ask is, "What must we agree on?"

 

There should be activity based collective accountability

·         You’ll want to demonstrate your contribution

·         People are inspired to action by one another only when there is mutual respect

·         We need constant feedback and acknowledgement to remind us and focus our efforts

·         “We get there together or we don’t really get there”

Process is validated by a mutually agreed upon authority

·         Who and what defines winning?

·         Trophies, awards or memories can be lasting achievements

·         Are we going to Disney World?

A professional relationship that is not growing is actually dying

·         Meetings are tough to have and generally unproductive

·         Agreements are hard to reach and keep

·         Trust begins to diminish

Professional ethics are understood and enforced

·         How you play the game really matters

·         People hold onto bitterness and jealousy

·         We all want to be on winning teams but not at a high ethical cost

It must be “we NOT me”

·         The concept of team has had significant changes and there’s no going back

·         It’s collaborate well now or die now

·         There’s no I in TEAM

Exercises: 

Rate yourself and your team with the following. 10 being the truest, create a relationship meter with (1-10) type of scaled answers to the following questions:

• We really enjoy working together

• We agree on what our roles and individual contributions should be

• We have a very collaborative and facilitative leadership structure

• Our accountability measurements are more inspirational than punitive

Have quick innovation discussions around relationship metering questions above (exp. What’s the easiest thing that we can do to improve this now?)

Have the SWOT discussions (Strengths, Weaknesses, Obstacles and Threats) with important people

Declare the importance of and share your personal meaning (exp. Vision and mission statements)