How to build more meaningful relationships with your people

How are you impacting your employees?

In the WSJ November Wall Street Journal/Vistage Small Business CEO survey, we asked our members how they communicate internally with their employees. The top results? All-staff meetings, departmental meetings, and company-wide emails.

Now, these are platforms, means to send messages. But I would argue that all of these means are insignificant if you’re not making a deeper impact with your employees and building true and authentic relationships.

In her great book, “Fierce Conversations,” Susan Scott tell us that our relationships are built on conversations. “One conversation at a time, you are building, destroying, or flatlining your relationships.”

I think to build those kinds of relationships, it takes great commitment. In our peer advisory groups, we hold each other accountable, to not only listen and ask (at times tough) questions, but to also make sure we meet each other’s needs.

How are you communicating with your people? Are you focused entirely on the person? Are you doing most of the talking or are you taking the opportunity to really listen? During one-to-ones with colleagues or employees, are you making this a sacred space? In your time with a group of your peers, are you committed completely to serving them?

And let me wrap up by changing my opening question to: How can you impact your employees by having “fierce conversations?”

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