Weekly Leadership Challenge: Connect with others
Leadership is influence. And influence depends on our ability to connect with people.
Communicating is such an important skill, and connecting is the foundation to communicating. Look at what John Maxwell said about connecting. He said, “It’s the ability to identify with people and relate to them in a way that increases your influence with them.”
Only one thing stands between you and greater success in your personal and professional life.
It isn’t knowledge, or skills, experience, or talent.
It’s your ability to connect with people.
In a world where success is increasingly dependent upon collaboration, you must learn to connect with people.
It’s a common misconception that certain people are born with the ability to connect with other people, and yet the truth is, anyone can learn how to make every communication an opportunity for a powerful connection.
Now if I ask you… “How many of you want to improve your results? Almost every single one of us would say yes… and for the few that would say no… if they were really honest… they’d say yes too… because the bottom line is… We all want to improve the results that we’re getting in our lives!
For a lot of people, it’s money… more time… lifestyle… relationships… health…
And what I’ve come to realize… and it’s taken me far longer than it should have… but the truth is…
If you want to get better results, you’ve got to get better at connecting with people.
I’m talking about a father or mother… a spouse… son or daughter…
someone who runs their own business… an employee or manager… a Vice President or CEO.
It doesn’t matter who you are… you can improve your results by improving your ability to connect and influence people in an ethical way.
You want to improve your marriage – connecting better will make a huge difference.
Want a promotion… you need to connect better with your boss… or your customers… or your peers… or your team.
Want to improve your relationships with your friends… it’s all about connecting.
We need people… you can’t do anything on your own in today’s world… we need to be able to connect and influence other people to succeed in this world. The friction you experience in your day to day life comes down to leadership, connecting, and influence.
And, everything I’m talking about is absolutely 100% a teachable skill… which means you can learn to connect… you can learn to lead… you can learn to improve your ability to influence people… if you want to.
I spend a great deal of time trying to convince people that it’s a common misconception that certain people are born with the ability to connect.
Yet the truth is, anyone can learn how to make every communication an opportunity for a powerful connection… it’s within your reach… it might be out of your comfort zone… but it is within your reach.
The reason that learning to connect can make such a difference to your results… to all your results… is that it is such a neglected skill.
Lead well this week my friend,
John Maxwell Team Certified Leadership Coach
renaeluketic.com
This blog contains excerpts taken from Everyone Communicates, Few Connect by John Maxwell. As a certified John Maxwell Team Certified Coach, I have permission to use these resources.