Dissecting Always in Pursuit Part 3
Fostering Relationships
How can you help someone? Are you able to add value to their lives? What perspectives can you gain? What tools can you utilize to jump start connections?
To answer the questions above there needs to be deep connections established. Going into a specific conversation with a game plan can seem disingenuous as well as taxing. So instead it’s about conversations in general; going in with the intent to connect on a real level so that the relationship can be mutually beneficial.
If I ask you a question, you answer and unless I have a follow up or a story the conversation has reached its culmination. So it’s about asking good questions, ones that don’t have simple yes or no answers. Quick example:
Do you work out daily?
I see that physical fitness is part of your routine, what kind of workouts do you do and why is it so important?
You get the difference, no point in belaboring the point. Tying answers to stories is like a window into people. What might seem like a simple answer and story can tell you about their upbringing, where they grew up maybe or how good they are in conveying past emotions into a story.
Stories are important, they build connections because most of the time when someone tells you a story they are giving a peek into the building blocks of their life. A piece of them that when prompted will reinvigorate an emotion and feeling.
My stories or my struggles can help them relate with me, if I show them a flaw or a time when I was weak it displays my vulnerability. This is incredibly relevant, because I want to connect on a personal level, not superficially.
Going back to the beginning, I want to add value to people’s lives. To do that I need to build trust, to do that I have to be real, vulnerable at times and transparent. If I need something from them I need to just tell them. Help them understand why and also how I can add value to their lives as well.
To be Always in Pursuit you are going to need help. You are going to need people you can count on, people that have knowledge and experiences you don’t yet possess. You don’t build relationships because you are looking for people that can help you in some way. Instead, you are forming a relationship that can be more than someone you know, it can be one you link to another effort or person to accomplish something amazing.
Rarely does a week go by when someone will reach out to me, ask for a reference or ask if I know someone who can help with X or connect them with so and so. I wear this like a badge of honor, I want people to come to me so that I can help them.
More importantly I want people to come to me in their most difficult times. Knowing I won’t judge them and will do everything in my power to help. This takes work and deliberate thought process when you are connecting with people.
So be deliberate and make it part of your day. You might be the phone call someone has been waiting for or desperately needed!
In case you missed the original definition of Always in Pursuit or segments to this post, you can find them here:
Dissecting Always in Pursuit Part 1
Dissecting Always in Pursuit Part 2
