LEADERS CULTIVATE RELATIONSHIPS – EVERY DAY!
Yesterday, I was reading an article in The Athletic, a national sports newsletter. This article relayed the story of Draymond Green, a forward for the Golden State Warriors, and his teammate Jordan Poole.
This past week Green, who has had numerous temper-related incidents in the past, sucker-punched his teammate Poole during a practice.
In discussing this unfortunate incident, the Warriors’ General Manager, Bob Myers, said “somebody smart told me a long time ago that you have to put equity in relationships because at some point, somebody’s going to upset someone else in a relationship – intentionally, unintentionally. And if you don’t have built-up equity, that can fracture the relationship. “
In reading this quote from Bob Myers, I was reminded of one of the most valuable concepts I learned several decades ago in reading, and then teaching, Stephen Covey’s ”Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”
That concept is called the Emotional Bank Account. The emotional bank account represents the amount of trust we have in a relationship with another person, whether it be a member of our own family or a teammate at work.
The goal is to always maintain a high balance in our emotional bank account with those people who are most important to us.
Inevitably, we are going to make a withdrawal in that account. As Myers said, sometimes it is intentional and sometimes it is unintentional. The result usually depends upon the reserve we have built up in that emotional bank account with the other person.
As you think about your relationships with your colleagues in the workplace, I encourage you to think about your emotional bank accounts with each one of them.
On a scale of 0 to 10, where does that account stand today? What could you do to build up the reserve in each of those accounts?
As you head into this next week, I encourage you to think about what you can do to strengthen your emotional bank accounts with those teammates who are most important to you. Write down specific actions you will take in the next five days. Take those actions.
At the conclusion of this week, examine your results. Give yourself an assessment. It is worth the effort!!!