Building Relationships in the New Year

Resolve to invest in building relationships to attain your personal and professional goals.

Evidently, the Babylonians brought in the New Year by promising the gods they would return all borrowed farm and cooking tools and pay off personal debts.

As you’re boxing up the stainless steel cooking utensils you borrowed from a friend last year, spend a minute thinking about how you’ll pay off one particular personal debt: You owe it to yourself to keep building relationships that will help you succeed both in your personal and professional lives.

Successful entrepreneur and columnist, Patricia Fripp, said, “Technology does not run an enterprise. Relationships do.”

When you’re investing in building relationships, the payoff comes when you’re genuinely interested in helping others. When others see you as the person they’d turn to for help in solving a problem, it’s a win-win.

Mark your calendar now to remind yourself at specific times in the year to contact and reconnect with key people. Staying in regular contact is the most natural and least expensive way to build relationships. Some ways to keep in touch with your network include:

  • Write a letter or a memorable card
  • Stay connected through email, social media, chats, or tweets
  • Send a meaningful gift
  • Share an article of interest to them
  • Request to meet-up in person for coffee
  • Refer them to someone looking for their services
  • Collaborate or assist them with a project
  • Invite them to a work-related event
  • Share good news
  • Celebrate their successes

Learn more about building relationships and improving other core leadership skills by meeting with one of our leadership development specialists.