The Lost Art of Connection in Business

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

Recently, I had a conversation with a woman named Susan McPherson and we discussed the effects of connection in business and life. Read ahead for insight.

How have relationships influenced your professional development and leadership style?

In so many ways. As a coach, facilitator, advisor, writer, and lifelong learner, my most distinctive take on relationships is the power of peer learning. I have always sought out peer groups, formal or informal, of other people facing similar challenges, or different challenges with similar values, as a source of advice, support, solidarity, and accountability. Because these groups have been so transformational for me, I have built peer learning into the ways I serve clients and even my speaking. I know, from research and experience, that we learn best when we engage with the material at hand and apply it to our own lives. There’s no more rewarding or effective way to do that than by sharing challenges, insights, hopes, fears, and needs with other people. In turn, these engaged, developmental, growth conversations give rise to deep, authentic, mutually beneficial, and lasting relationships.

Do you have any tips for maintaining and building strong relationships?

Build relationships based on shared action. If you do things together, you establish shared experiences…