Читать книгу Scaling Conversations - Dave MacLeod - Страница 14

Relationship capital is best described as: Be that friend. The capital you gain from relationships can be generated by being agenda‐free.

Picture looking at your phone and seeing that a friend is calling you. Without picking up the phone you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, they want something from you. Otherwise, they'd never call. We all have that friend, colleague or family member. Or maybe we are that friend. Who knows?

Now picture the last time you went out for lunch with a friend and you raced to buy them lunch before they bought it for you. When you see their number come up on your phone you want to make sure you aren't distracted when you pick it up because you're eager to speak with them.

The difference between those two people is relationship capital. One of those people has no capital in your bank and the other one does. The critical question is: What sort of actions and events filled their account? What sorts of things did they do and say to build up capital with you in a way that others have not? The answer to this question will be different for everyone but will also contain commonality. The people who we have relationship capital with reach out when they wonder if they can help, not only when they need help. They ask what is in your heart and on your mind when they suspect you are struggling. They share in good times without requiring all of the attention being focused on them. Most critically, they know how to listen openly.

The next question comes after you reflect on the sorts of things that put capital in your bank for other people: How can this time of unprecedented crisis be a catalyst for unprecedented creation of relationship capital in your organization? How can you be that leader? I'm soon going to dive into how to scale conversations and, before I do, I want to explore first the benefit of scaled conversations in terms of relationship capital.

There are questions leaders have asked handfuls, hundreds and even thousands of people amidst the coronavirus pandemic to help increase authentic relationship capital:

What challenges are you experiencing?

If remote work continues next year, what concerns do you have?

What hopes and concerns do you have about our future?

What is on your mind right now?

These questions scale perfectly from a one‐on‐one conversation to conversations with thousands as everyone shares their concerns, challenges and thoughts. The asker ensures they do the most important thing: Listen. Following listening may come actions, but listening needs to come first.

The idea that leaders need to scale their most simple relationship‐building questions is disarmingly simple, and I'll explore how to ensure entire organizations can feel heard and respected thanks to leaders asking the most simple questions. And the leader's role, that of actively listening to the answers people give about how they are feeling creates process capital.