During the holiday season, we are bombarded with advertisements celebrating family relationships. In the commercials, the family is gathered around the table laughing, enjoying a delicious meal and each other. My favorite commercial is the family cooking together in the kitchen.

[callout]This post is part of a series based on the book Today Matters: 12 daily practices to guarantee success by Dr. John C. Maxwell.[/callout]

As a child, I grew up with a large extended family. We would spend our holidays together at my grandfather’s house. I always looked forward to spending time with all of my cousins. However, I enjoyed spending time with my cousins from New York the most.

My mother’s oldest sister lived in New York City. I loved spending my summers with my cousins in the “city.” They lived on the sixth floor in a high-rise building. We would ride the elevator up to their floor and run down the hallway to their apartment.

When I would go to visit cousins, my aunt would go out of her way to make me feel special. She would prepare my favorite foods and take me around the city. My cousins would adjust their plans to make me feel included in the group.

As a result of their efforts, my visits were always very special. Why were my visits so special? My cousins intuitively implemented John Maxwell’s five-step process of building strong relationships.

So, what are Maxwell’s five steps to building strong relationships?

  1. Put others first
  2. Don’t carry emotional baggage
  3. Give time to your most valuable relationships
  4. Serve others gladly
  5. Express love and appreciation often

In his book Today Matters, Maxwell said, “Every day I make a conscious effort to deposit goodwill into my relationships with others.”

As a leader, you need to build relationships to achieve success.

[shareable cite=”Dr .John C. Maxwell”]All things being equal, the likable person wins. However, all things not being equal, the likable person still wins”[/shareable]

Remember people are your most valuable asset. Therefore, organizational success is dependent upon people.

So, what do effective leaders do to build relationships with others to achieve organizational success?

  • They value the people in the organization
  • They seek to understand before being understood
  • They give respect freely and work to earn respect from others
  • They seek to add value to others

Your success as a leader will increase significantly if you build strong relationships with others. Relationships make our lives enjoyable and help us achieve success.

How can you become better at building relationships?

Your leadership guide,
Kim

Dr. Kim Moore | Your Leadership Guide | kimdmoore.com

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

You may also like

March 26, 2024

March 19, 2024

March 12, 2024

Dr. Kim Moore

About the author

I'm Kim, your Educational Leadership Guide. I equip educational leaders with research-based and experientially learned educational leadership principles and best practices to promote student success.


>