At some point during each of our careers, we've had meetings with someone whose job is to support us. Whether the person is internal, like a finance or HR business partner, or external, like a vendor or consultant, the person spends the entire meeting telling us all the things we need to do to help them. My favorite demand is when the individual says they need something by tomorrow. This type of interaction is not a partnership. Instead, it leaves you feeling like you work for the individual or team that is supposed to be supporting you and your initiatives.
In response, professionals should learn how to cultivate better interactions and form a real partnership—whether you're leading or supporting a team.
Strong leadership depends on relationships and trust
If you are leading a team that works with other people, functions, or clients, then the strength of your business partnerships often determines your team's success. In school, classes teach the technical side of our jobs, but rarely do we get formal training on building relationships and trust. For most of us, our learning comes from either trial and error or coaching and mentorship.
Cultivating empathy in professional settings
The key to creating a strong and trusting relationship with business partners is to use empathy. Empathy is the practice of putting yourself in someone else's position while removing your own preferences and biases. Empathy is trying to understand the other person's perspective and see things from their point of view.
Doing a great job is a strong step to building trust with a business partner, but just because you produce a report on time and accurately, doesn't mean that you can influence that business partner's decision-making. To do that, trust must be partnered with insight and value.
Here are three easy tips to leverage empathy and build greater trust and value with your business partners:
- Balance your focus: When in a meeting, make sure that only half of the time is spent on what you need, and the other half is spent asking the business partner what you can do to help them.
- Proactively help others: Prior to any interaction with the business partner, consider what's going on in their world. How can you help? Proactively put together some data, research, or materials that shows the business partner you're thinking about them – and without them having to ask.
- Be clear and thorough: When writing an email, analysis, or commentary, make sure your writing is complete, but not wordy. For example, if you write "Expenses were 10% over budget." The next natural question is "why?" Be sure to answer the "why?" so the business partner doesn't have to ask.
These three simple steps will leave your business partner with a positive feeling about their interaction with you. As these steps become habits, the trust and influence with your business partners will grow.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
