You're only as effective as your working relationships allow.

There'll have been a time when you had a rather romantic vision of yourself as a leader. It probably involved everybody saying what an absolute pleasure it is to work for you and how everything was purring like a well-oiled machine.


We all did that! 

We soon realise that having everything in place is one thing; making it work is quite another.

When they're good, it's good . . 

There are many factors that conspire to spoil the fun but working relationships are one of the most common and possibly the most complex. It's almost certain that at some time you'll be required to work alongside someone you might ordinarily cross the street to avoid.

That would be bad enough but what do you do if that person turns out to be your boss?


Take a moment and consider; of all of the people you've ever worked with, who is it that stands out as being the best at dealing with people and pressure, no matter how chaotic thing got?

Once a face comes to mind, consider the opposite; who would you say was the least well equipped to deal with the day-to-day pressures of the workplace?

Score them both on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 is high.

You just know that the person you scored highest the will be confident, popular, a good communicator who enjoys their work. The one at the other end of the scale is unlikely to share any of those attributes and they almost certainly hate their job.

Whether we like it or not, those who are the most skillful at dealing with the complexities of the workplace are likely to be having a far better time than those who are not.

Where that skill level is lower, there's a corresponding increase in the incidence of stress, disappointment and frustration.

How relationships determine our effectiveness:

As youngsters we're totally dependent on others, as we mature we become independent and think we can do anything, as our career develops we recognise that to get things done effectively we need to be interdependent.

Consider this: We all have a series of roles and responsibilities which bring us into contact with a variety of people; such as our partner, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, the boss, neighbours, financiers, suppliers, employees and customers.

That list enables us to determine how effective we can be; simply by assessing the quality of each of the relationships within it.

If everyone sings your praises and are at a loss as to even imagine how you could possibly get along better, then the only thing limiting your effectiveness would be your imagination. Getting things done would be easy because of the huge network of willing support you could draw on.

On the other hand if the answer was a resounding condemnation, then you're on your own and in a pretty dark place. Asking favours is what happens just before we get rejected. After being rejected enough times we stop asking the questions and life's horizons begin to close ranks.

So if some people are better equipped than others to deal with the workplace and nurture effective relationships, just what is it that they're equipped with?

Keep looking around and see . . . .