Resilient Relationships

As reported in the article 'TrendWatcher: The Leadership Competencies That Matter Most in Today's Trying Economic Times' in HR Daily, September 11 2009, one of the top three competencies of a leader was building good relationships.

Resilient Relationships are the key to leading in volatile times, and that it takes a number of other critical competencies to ensure business survives and thrives.

While there is no argument that the ability to engage others and keep them engaged is one of the most important Leadership Competencies in business, there is also no argument that people today are now interacting and communicating at the different levels of their relationship with greater success. However, it requires relationships to be more than open for success to happen. It requires them to be resilient and robust to actually withstand and respect change, diversity and challenge that is being demanded in business today.

The ability to lead successfully in volatile times demand superior skills including the ability to identify issues and their levels of urgency so strategic adjustments can be carefully made. What is also of great significance is being able to care for stakeholder relationships with the same urgency as caring for the financials.

However evidence today indicates that leaders operate between these two sets of competing priorities and while they would like to invest more in relationships their primary focus is on survival strategies not relationship strategies. This shift from people to bottom line exclusively is unfortunately interfering with results as staff, clients and stakeholders are reportedly feeling “less connected and committed to supporting the businesses, companies and their leaders.”

In order to be stress hardy in these times, do the following 10 point check list to determine whether or not you are resilient or resigned…

If you rate less than 4 Yes’s, it’s time to lift the bar on relationships

1. Are people operating at the level of the relationship or where they would like them to be? Yes No
2. Are people in a strong physical when things get tough?
3. Are people in a strong financial health when the business is going through tough times?
4. Do staff historically behave well when things get tough?
5. Does your business manage challenging times with a robust strategy in place?
6. Do you have support systems are/were in place to help your staff and business recover
7. Do the person/staff know what is going on around them and in what context their work is taking?
8. Do you have external influences interfering with the process of getting results?
9. Are there external influences working in a positive way?
10. Do staff have the resources around them to assist them to cope at the time?
    

While businesses are currently pre occupied with securing a healthy financial future, those businesses whose focus is making their relationships resilient will get there faster and more successfully.

Ricky Nowak leadership@rickynowak.com http://www.rickynowak.com/