Growing Relationships
Last week I attended a 4-day leadership training session at Ole Miss. At the end of the training, we were asked to talk about a take-away; something we got out of the four full days we had spent together. For me it was the opening 15-minute ice breaker where we interacted with almost all 30+ participants. I didn’t know many of the leaders in the room, so the ice breaker was an opportunity for me to get to know a bit about them.
“Our rewards in life will always be in exact proportion to the amount of
consideration we show toward others.”
~Earl Nightingale
Who we know and who we choose to spend time with is important. Harvard University conducted an 80+ year study on longevity, known as the Harvard Study of Adult Development. The research, based in Boston, Massachusetts, found that the greatest predictor of length of life isn’t genetics, diet, exercise, or environment. Although all of those are important, the number one predictor of how long an individual will live is the quality of their relationships.
Strong leaders foster positive relationships, not only enhancing their own well-being, but also promoting a healthy and supportive environment for those they lead. Few leaders can say they achieved all they achieved on their own. Leaders need others to achieve their personal and professional goals.
The 4-day training taught me some new techniques, and I relearned some familiar ideas, but it was getting to interact with the people that made the event especially rewarding for me.
“Personal relationships are the fertile soil from which all advancement, all success, all achievement in real life grows.”
~Ben Stein
Keep cultivating those relationships.
Jeff
