Relationships are important right? Of course they are… in fact some would say that your relationships are THE most important thing you have – relationships with your family and close friends, co-workers, customer/clients etc.
So let me ask you this question: how much time are you spending on building those relationships? Think about it – we spend a lot of time focused on a lot of different things, but often we miss the most basic steps – like really appreciating the people around us; like working out how to add value to someone else; like taking a few moments to perform a nice gesture or give someone a gift.

The reason this is important is because in business, like life, everything revolves around the power of the relationships you have. You have heard the saying that your income is in direct proportion to the 5 people closest to you right? Well maybe it’s time to have a look at who is influencing you and who’s advice you are listening to. So the obvious next question is: how do I expand my network, or create new relationships?
The answer to this question for some people is a dreaded four letter word ….. time….. more specifically you have to INVEST TIME.
You see you can’t hope to find someone that already has what you want (which is the fastest way to become successful) and expect them to give you the magic pill – it doesn’t work like that.
What you have to do is to add some value to them in some way and/or invest some time in getting to know THEM – the person.
Here’s an example:
A number of months ago I met a guy at a trade show and he and I connected right away – he is a really sharp dresser, well spoken, driven and passionate – I could see al of these things right from the start. Over the next few months we connected a couple of times on a few different projects but he and I didn’t really spend much time getting to know each other. The only times we really talked was regarding someone else’s event or product etc etc.
So fast forward a few more months to last week – he emailed me and said that he was spending the week at a cottage about an hour and a half north of Toronto, doing some planning and strategizing, and invited me to come up to meet with him. Now we are all busy right? So my initial reaction was to brush it off – too much on my plate, I too have deadlines and clients that all need my attention etc etc…. but given that I am telling you about this in an email, I’m guessing you realized that’s NOT what I did – No what I did was decide to take action and meet with this guy. And a couple of days later we did just that – we spent a massive amount of time talking – not about work or business but about what was important to us – essentially what we were doing was finding out was what each other was passionate about and what makes us tick. The reason this was powerful was because we got an opportunity to get to know each other. I am VERY confident that we will be working together because we have a lot in common outside of the business wold – something that I may not have found out if I didn’t take the time to investigate.

The only way to do this is to spend time together and ask questions!

So now why did I tell you this story?

Well quite simply because I want you to be thinking about who you are listening to and who are your greatest influencers? And after you think about that, if you work out that maybe you should expand your own network, then take some action and connect with someone you have been meaning to get to know. Can’t think of anyone right now? Well then go and find an expert who you have resonated with in the past and rekindle your learning relationship. You see what you are really doing here is expanding your mind-set to listen and learn from new people. And you know that we never stop learning, right? It doesn’t matter if we are learning from our existent network (providing they are a positive influence on you) or from industry experts – the key is to connect and either build on a new or existing relationship; or at the very least challenge your belief systems by learn from someone who has been there and done that!