Networking Insight

Nine Successful Outcomes of Great Relationship Building

2012-02-05T15:02:51-06:00

Building relationships takes time to see the results of your efforts. With consistency and patience, you have the opportunity to have successful outcomes for your networking activities.

Below are nine successful outcomes of great relationship building:

1. New clients are obtained

2. New partnerships are formed

3. New employees are hired

4. Capital is raised

5. New friendships are born

6. Your personal brand’s credibility has been enhanced

7. New opportunities present themselves to you

8. You build a very diverse network

9. You are approachable, which opens up doors

What other successful outcomes have you experienced?

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How to Evaluate Your Leadership Style By Ken Blanchard

2012-02-01T22:29:39-06:00

How to Evaluate Your Leadership Style

By Ken Blanchard, Co-author of Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for LifeToday

I'm going to give a short, one-question quiz. Here's the question: How do you rate as a leader?I don't ask this question flippantly. It is a question I've asked countless people at the leadership seminars we conduct. As leaders, most people rank themselves as being very close to a minor deity or at least Mr. or Ms. Human Relations. Seldom do leaders give themselves low marks. Strangely enough, when the tables are turned and people are asked to rank their boss's leadership style, we often find many supervisors graded as being adequate, merely OK, or at worst, office autocrats who depend heavily on the often-referenced "seagull management" technique as their sole line of attack -- they leave their people alone until something goes wrong, and then they fly in, make a lot of noise, dump all over everyone, and fly out.

More often than not, we find that leaders lull themselves into thinking they are top-flight leaders because they think they use a supportive or coaching style, which someone told them are "good" leadership styles. Not too surprisingly, this isn't the way they are seen by those in their department, office or store.

To get a true and accurate answer about the question above, it is necessary for you as a supervisor to honestly determine how your employees perceive your leadership style. These are the folks who know you best. They have first-hand experience with your leadership style and operate on their own perceptions about it. They are the best judges of your managerial effectiveness. However, getting an employee or subordinate to give his or her honest feedback on your leadership style is difficult. People fear being the messenger who will get shot for bearing bad news. Hence, they are naturally reluctant to be totally candid.

Employees are sharp observers. In the past, they may have gone to their leader and made an honest suggestion such as, "Ken, I think our Thursday afternoon meetings are a waste of time." If the supervisor answers with an outburst by saying, "What do you mean a waste of time? Are you kidding? Those meetings are important," it doesn't take a genius to figure out that one thing the leader doesn't want to hear is the truth.

It is important to remember that when people you supervise tell you what they honestly think about your style of leadership, they're really giving you a gift. When someone gives you a gift, what is the first thing you should say? "Thank you," of course! Then it's a very good idea to follow up by saying, "Is there anything else you think I should know?" When a person learns that you won't become defensive or hostile when he or she gives you an honest evaluation about your style, you'll find that you'll be given many nuggets of truth which are extremely valuable. My advice would be to encourage people to give (feedback) at the office, and to give often!

Just remember, what you think about your own leadership style really doesn't matter. In addition, there is no one correct style, nor is there a "good" or a "bad" style. Rather, style is judged by those immediately influenced by it. It's your people's response to your style that matters. If you are getting the right response consistently -- high productivity and morale -- then you're doing just fine. If not, then perhaps it's your style that needs changing, not your employees.

Author Bio

Ken Blanchard, co-author of Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life, is cofounder and chief spiritual officer of the Ken Blanchard Companies. He is the author or coauthor of 50 books that have sold more than 20 million copies, including the iconic One Minute Manager®. Connect with Ken Blanchard on Facebook and follow him on Twitter here and here.

For more information on the book please visit http://greatleadersgrow.com.

Book Review: The Joe Dial by Joe Scott

2012-01-28T16:09:05-06:00

The Joe Dial was written by Joe Scott who is a contractor and real estate developer who built a thriving business from a truck and a toolbox. During his career, he has negotiated thousands of business deals with a variety of people. By working on these deals, he has learned that almost all people fall into three types. A major factor to his success is knowing how to deal with each type of person.

Below is a sample of the chapters in the book:

Givers and Takers
Emotions
The Role of “Nature”
Striking the Right Balance
Guidelines for True Giving
The Business of Give and Take

Based on his experience, the author shares some basic truths about human nature through the book. While dealing with thousands of people over the years, he came to the conclusion that three types of people exist:

A Taker
A Giver
A Take-and-Giver

According to the author, the most important thing you need to know about someone is which category this person falls into so you better build a relationship. Humans are easier to understand, manage, and to do business with if you view them through this lens.

The author wrote this book for the following reasons:

To give you a tool for assessing the relationships in your life.
To give you a simple tool to self-analyze.
To encourage you to change.

Throughout the book, the author references a tool that he calls “The Joe Dial”. He developed it as a simple visual model to assess people as to where they fall on the Taker, Giver, and Take-and-Giver spectrum.

The author shares a variety of stories and insights about how people act so you can better understand how to analyze others. By reading this book, you will gain a better appreciation about human nature and how to better interact with others in both professional and personal situations.

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Chicago EFactor Event - Legal Aspects for Entrepreneurs 2/21

2012-01-26T21:42:55-06:00

Below is information about an event that I am co-hosting with EFactor.

Legal Aspects for Entrepreneurs

An interactive workshop covering crucial tax and legal issues facing entrepreneurs and their companies during the business lifecycle from start-up, expansion and exit. Our legal experts will give your professional advice on these and many more topics:

Getting the initial structure right
Rewarding employees with equity
Exit routes
Spouses as shareholders
Research and Development tax credits
Equity or debt financing from investors
Having a group of companies
'Cleaning' up a group to maximize tax reliefs (or to avoid losing them)
Inheritance tax issues with companies and groups
Liquidations - when it all goes wrong

A key part of the workshop will be the opportunity to discuss with fellow entrepreneurs tax and legal issues they are facing and what solutions they found to be the most beneficial. You will be able to learn from others as to how to avoid legal mistakes and solve the problems you are facing now without spending large amount of money on legal help.

Speakers Include:

Greg Grove, Principal, Much Shelist
Alexandra Dowling, Associate, Jenner & Block

Date: 2/21/12

Time: 6:30-9:30pm

Location: VentureSHOT, 744 N. Wells St., Chicago

Price: $10 Early Bird, $15 regular, $20 at door

Host: EFactor

For more details and to register, go to EFactor.com.

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Social Networking Humor

2012-01-21T13:53:24-06:00

Jason Jacobsohn

Focus Your Energy on Meeting More Targeted People

2012-01-19T21:29:27-06:00

It is relatively easy to meet new people each week. Every night of the week, you have the opportunity to choose from multiple events to attend. Also, you can reach out to your network to ask for introductions, which can be done online or offline.

Regardless of the method, you have endless opportunities to meet new people. One problem is that you may be taking more of a shotgun approach to meet new people. When this happens, you will meet vary random people who may or may not be valuable to add to your network. In most cases, you will be meeting many of the wrong people. While it is possible that many of these people could introduce you to the right people, it is still not s an effective approach.

So, consider taking more of a targeted approach to meeting the right people. Research events and pick the most appropriate ones that will have the right audience. Also, join private networking groups that will allow you to get to know various complementary and like-minded individuals.

Take the time to review a contact’s LinkedIn network and ask for targeted introductions. LinkedIn is a great business tool so leverage it to expand your network.

Focus on meeting fewer people versus collecting as many business cards as you can. It is better to have a smaller but high quality network than a large network of vary random people.

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10 Motivating Words about Networking for the New Year

2012-01-14T07:34:42-06:00

With each New Year, we need to start out recharged and sometimes need extra motivation. Below are ten words to think about as you ramp up your relationship building this year. The below words are bi-products of good networking.

1. Revenue

2. Partners

3. Funding

4. Friends

5. Job

6. Employees

7. Growth

8. Development

9. Credibility

10. Access

What other words can you think of?

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What Inspires You to Build Relationships?

2012-01-11T22:08:56-06:00

Why do you spend time building and managing relationships? Something must inspire you to do so. Each of us has our own personal and business motivations that drive us every day to succeed.

Below are some ideas of what may inspire you to cultivate your network. For most of us, we have multiple motivations.

Desire to increase revenues
Desire to build strategic partnerships
Desire to find new employees
Desire to find investors
Desire to find friends
Desire to find a spouse
Desire for PR exposure
Desire to gain credibility
Desire to get promoted
Desire to find a new job
Desire to know subject matter experts

What else can you think of?

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How to Build a Professional Business Networking (video)

2012-01-06T20:20:04-06:00

Jason Jacobsohn

Best of Networking Insight for 2011

2012-01-02T22:04:02-06:00

Below are some of my more popular posts for 2011:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

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