Building Great Relationships

When you are in a support function of an organisation – CFO, CPO, CIO, CTO or any other CXO, it's often difficult to build relationships across the organisation that are more than transactional. Therefore, both we and the organisation miss the opportunity of a quality strategic or advisory engagement. A focused effort on your part can change that. As an advisor to C suite members, this is my recommendation as a three-step process: 

• Identify those people across your organisation and even outside the organisation that are important to your success.  

• Determine how your role in the organisation is important to their success.  

• Make and execute a plan to change the relationship.  

What is a great relationship? 

As a support department, often our relationship with the rest of the organisation is transactional. Finance sends out the budgeting documents to other functions to help them plan and submit their budgets for the next year. HR reminds managers that they need to do the annual staff reviews. IT gives project progress reports to the executive sponsors of projects. Often the organisation misses out because you are not fully engaged in strategic and planning conversations that may seem to be out of your remit. We don’t work or should not work in silos but as a fully engaged senior leadership team, capable of having conversations across the organisation on topics that are important to your peers.  When your advice is sought on subjects across the organisation, you know you have a great relationship. The view of you is as a valuable partner in the organisation.   

Identifying those people across the organisation that are important to your success.  

Take some time to consider people of power and influence, even if they are of a different level to yourself. Who is considered by others to be important? Who is listened to in meetings? Who has presence? 

Determine how your role is important to them. 

Good relationships have reciprocity. What is in it for you? What is in it for them? We must have value to the organisation otherwise we would not be there. Often, we don’t recognise our own value. We have been focused on the process rather than the value we bring.  

Make and execute a plan to change the relationship.    

Unfortunately for you, nothing will change without a plan that you execute. Here is where I and my colleagues as Executive Coaches hear the excuse, ‘I don’t have time’. Reprioritise please, and both you and your organisation will benefit.  

If this is of interest to you, click here to receive a ‘starter kit’.