Power Relationships

Power Relationships shows you how to have a fantastic career and a fulfilling life by connecting with the right people early and growing those relationships.

Imagine you’re walking down the row to the stage to accept a prestigious award for your work. You might be thinking of the people without whom you’d never have gotten to this point.

These are called power relationships and most successful people have 12-15 of them throughout their career. If you want to do amazing things, you’re going to need connections like these yourself. But how can you find them?

Start by having great conversations, like those that led Bill Jenkins to develop and maintain a relationship with a client that made his firm successful.

Jenkins was used to giving Power-Point presentations until the assistant to this client told him that her boss preferred their informal chats. As he followed the woman’s advice he got to know the client better and put himself in a better position to help.

The client stayed on and a couple of years later the client is one of his firm’s biggest.

Developing power relationships also takes a willingness to ask questions.

A while back one of the authors was working on a meeting for his town and wanted to improve the profile of the event. To do this, he decided he wanted J.C. Penney to speak.

After a failed attempt asking at the local JC Penney store, he called Mr. Penney himself, who agreed to speak and became a lifelong friend and mentor to the author!

Which do you think is better, having a lot of acquaintances, or having a few close friends? While being popular sounds nice, when it comes to success, it’s best to nurture relationships with a small group of people. Consider these individuals like your 15 “apostles,” which all support each other’s projects to help one another succeed. When considering who to include, think of people who are good advisors, mentors, or collaborators. It’s crucial that you begin forming these relationships immediately. Start with those who are in a similar place to you. It’s not likely that someone who has already seen success will bring a new person into their close circle. Make sure you also avoid trying to connect with people just because of their position. Focus on reaching out to people that you like, with similar interests and values. Petri Hawkins-Byrd ended up becoming the bailiff for the popular show Judge Judy because of a power relationship. During his time as a bailiff in Brooklyn, he’d spent years developing a connection with Judy Sheindlin before her show even existed. While it’s good to build relationships with people you like, don’t discount people that…