We’ve had such a great reception to our new website and
focus on Getting to Know Yourself…and Others™ – thank you all so much!
The Self-Study Program on Building
Stronger Relationships is generating a lot of conversation!
I have to tell you an interesting thing that happened: in my
family, when one of us does something new we usually share it with everyone
just as way of staying connected – like so many families, we’re spread across
the country and don’t sit over Sunday dinner bringing each other up to date –
I’m sure that’s the same for many of you. So I sent the recent announcements about my business updates to family and friends.
My mother’s insight -
trust Mom! - was profound and succinct: “You’re
emphasizing relationships yet you’re using technology to do it”. She
actually stopped me cold because it’s technology that is chilling a lot of
relationships – personally and professionally.
I thought back to leadership classes of times past, when
clients had the budget and invited professionals in to conduct leadership
training and education; then the development and state of relationships was
always a huge block of learning. Time was spent on lessons and practice in:
All of those interactions propelled team leader and team
member to become better acquainted, to build a stronger relationship that made
it more likely for both to succeed, to deal with problems calmly and promptly,
to innovate, to appreciate other talents…maybe even ENJOY coming to work!
Now, in organizations that rely heavily on e-learning, many
of those extended lessons and skill practice opportunities are severely
minimized. There’s a mountain of work and it has to be completed FAST, FAST,
FASTER. Relationships? Who’s got time?
Remember the comment in this blog from the other day: “I absolutely
agree on the personal relationships, but I feel very old school when I try to
maintain them. In my little world, the biggest killer is technology…losing the
personal relationships that have worked so well for me over the years…I could
get people to cooperate because they knew...me.”
There’s concern in many corners about relationships and our
ability to connect with other people. In an interview with Brian Williams of
NBC last night (June 5, 2012), President Clinton was asked about social media
and commented that teens today average 80 text messages per day. He believes
they “will have trouble being PRESENT where they are” in the future. What will
relationships look like?
Today I can only conclude this:
Relationships: they add such richness to our lives as people as
well as a multitude of positives and negatives.
Technology: it adds such richness to our lives as people as well
as a multitude of positives and negatives.
I guess we better find a way to make them compatible – we need
them both!
So, it turns out that I’m advocating building stronger
relationships through technology.
I look at the design of my four part program – it DOES include a
live, one-on-one consult – I just can’t seem to leave it all up to online
learning – I’ve got to have a connection and KNOW something good has happened
for my learner!
Question for you: Do you NEED the live connections?
