Ganesan A.
General Manager - Telecom OSS/BSS Practice, Global Services at Alcatel-Lucent
Are Relationships the ultimate key for winning in this world?
Few examples
- a company is at a better position winning a business contract when they have contacts(relationship) in the customer circle.
- any government matter, your case moves faster if you know someone there.
- you are getting things done faster, getting the information faster (grape wine), getting an advantage in whatever you do..because your contacts helping you out.
- in a company, the employee who has good contacts (relationship) getting ahead of others whether its getting an opportunity or promotion.
It seems that relationships are more important than talent, experience and performance. If that is the case, shouldnt we invest lot of energy building relationships even in the corporate world / work place?
Answers (8)
Tirthankar S.
Trading & Commercial (Steel & Commodities)
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It sometimes help, but you should not generalize.
Good contact in Customer Circle can bring business, but if there is no quality + timely delivery + reasonable price etc. for the product/ service, it will not take time loose those circle.
I will not comment on Govt. related matters. I personally have never tried anything thru 'connection'. Still did never face any difficulty in case of Passport/ Ration Card/ Driving License/ IT-filing etc.
Your 3rd point is to some extent valid for getting information. Yesterday, one person got a job thru our consultancy. He neither knew anyone from my client, nor anyone from my consultancy. We head-hunted him. So, where are his contacts helping him? He got the job, because he deserved, he was capable.
For Performance Appraisal / promotion, your performance will be counted. The system you have mentioned, if goes for long, the appraiser will loose his job.
Relationships are certainly important; those are bonus, not salary. If you don't deliver, your connections will hardly be able to save you.
You should invest your energy on your KRA first.
Simon H.
Digital Manager
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Would you deal with someone you know, like and trust, or someone you don't know, and therefore do not know you can trust?
If you do not have a relationship, you need to have a trusted brand presence, and speedy third party endorsement availability that they trust.
Without one or the other you will always lose out to the competitor.
Simon Hamer
Neha M.
Sr Manager - HR (Asia) at Mediascope Publicitas
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"It seems that relationships are more important than talent, experience and performance". This statement sounds more like a negative remark. The point is that one may just posses the "talent" of building good rapport and thereby building a base of fruitful relationships. With "experience" comes in network of like minded people who can connect quickly. And with "performance", you are able to sell yourself with a set of quality approved services and thus refrain from getting neglected / questioned on your deliveries.
some where I read, sales is nothing but building relationships. with out human relationship nothing moves forward. what you have said is right.
Melanie B.
OBE Positive change specialist, tender expert, community champion, enterprise ambassador
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Hello Ganesan,
This question could be answered on a number of different levels and for each I would say that 'yes' relationships are vital to 'win' whatever winning means for you personally and professionally.
As Simon rightly says when you break it down fundamentally people do business with people, and it's human nature to prefer to work with and support people that you know and trust.
Talent, experience and performance are essential components in corporate life but it's the quality of your relationships that will make the difference in how effectively these are leveraged, acknowledged and shared.
For me the quality and authenticity of relationships is the key differentiator. Most people quickly see through those who are attempting to build relationships purely for personal gain.
Building effective authentic relationships take time and energy. Trust needs to be earned. You need to be prepared to give willingly to your relationships as well as to benefit from them.
Time and energy spent building these kinds of relationships in the corporate world, workplace and in your personal life will never be wasted.
As a child we are taught that we are social “Animals”. Relationship I believe is a by product of being social so we build it over a period of time both at professionally and personally.
With we equate above with professional need we feel happy to deal with people we know but it does not guarantee success. Professional environments analyze and evaluate before making any decision. The degree of influence of relationship will vary from country to country, society to society.
With specific reference to Indian Professional Environment I feel that we are in process of attaining maturity and looks like next 5-6 years people will not be as emotional as they are now. Once this happen Relationship importance will go down
Octavio B.
Global Thinker ★ Corporate Strategist with focus in 2.0 Technologies
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Absolutely, Ganesan,
Talent, experience and performance are meaningless from a long-term perspective when there is no passion to satisfy the needs, wants and requirements of its customer base.
Many organizations have failed and lost their competitive advantage when they have privileged the features and specification of their portfolio of products and services on their real needs of their customers.
From a professional point of view an organization that encourages to their employees to engaging in relationships with business value surely will have more possibilities of surviving beyond of tough business scenarios. Don´t forget that each one of us is a social creature by nature, and from different perspectives makes sense being proficient in social networking to encourage new business opportunities, find a new job, or even, take advantage from the collective intelligence of social networks for the benefit of all the involved parties.
The best business relationships are built by the mutual respect between the parties, with empathy, excellent communication and with a meaningful sense of purpose on mind that should be conveyed by an inspired leadership. Most of the best teams I have ever known have been created and consolidated, by encouraging a meaningful purpose and excellent relationships among their members.
I hope this helps you.
Octavio
Hi Ganesan,
I am actually a big believer in relationships and have seen that relationships work where everythign else fails. To put it simply - "People buy from People and not companies".
So, for e.g. if i know you well enough and trust you , i will buy from Ganesan irrespective of the company he is in. of course the organziation you represent will have some value; but i knwo at the back of my mind that its YOU i am buying from. Hence; its very important to maintain your professional status in the industry & your network. It always pays. :)
