3 Tips to Strengthen Your Relationships

Have you ever had an emergency come up, want to take a vacation, or just an afternoon off? 

Have you ever been so busy that you can’t handle a project alone or need a fresh perspective? Sure, we all have. Life happens. But when you have others who you can depend on, it sure does make life go a little more smoothly. 

In a society focused on “I” and “me,” it can sometimes be hard to build those relationships. However, we should realize that being a team player is beneficial to everyone. Here at HORNE, our foundation is built on “WE” and “Service.” In order to grow both professionally and personally, we have to put in the work to build a strong relationship. And relationships are not built overnight. It takes time, patience, understanding, and sometimes, hard work. Here are three simple tips to help strengthen your relationships.

1. Respect others’ points of view and give them the benefit of good intentions. When you have a good relationship with the people you work with, positive energy flows. I’m not saying that you will love everyone, but at least make an effort to respect their opinions and give them the benefit of good intentions.
2. Trust is a key ingredient in any relationship. Oftentimes, we want others to trust us first. However, sometimes we have to be the ones to trust first. It’s not always easy, but keeping the lines of communication open helps tremendously.
3. You’ve got to be willing to listen, keep an open mind, and display some emotional intelligence. Relationships are about give and take. Emotional intelligence is extremely important. As we learned at this year’s HORNE Leadership Summit—it is one of the top skills needed to be future ready.

Working with teams can sometimes be a struggle, but with the right mindset and attitude, it can be successfully done. When your teammates feel as though they can rely on you and feed off of your positive energy, it makes for a better work environment. They’re also more likely to cheerfully help in times of need.

Everybody needs somebody sometimes. It’s an awesome feeling to know that someone’s got your back. 

About the Author

Kim Jenkins is passionately doing her part to reach our firm’s 2020 Vision each day. She is a supervisor in Government Services currently working on a Hazard Mitigation project where she assists with disaster relief management and compliance.