Act One – The Intentional and Conscious Art of Connecting
When it comes to realizing massive career and life success, it will undoubtedly be directly related to your ability to connect with people. The better you are at connecting, the more success you are likely to achieve, and to truly connect on a deep and profound level it will take an intentional and conscious awareness when interacting with others.
Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, as many poor communicators or connectors have gone on to realize great success in life. However, I think their level of success was in fact limited by their inability to successfully implement this critical life skill. Now the level of success these individuals achieved may very well have been enough success for them, so they likely never thought much about improving their connecting skills. Regardless, they have indeed unknowingly limited their level of success, and they likely endured much more pain, frustration, and anguish as they worked towards their own individual success.
Why do I say that you might ask?
Well, just imagine if they were great communicators, and amazing at making quality and genuine connections, do you think this would have made a difference in their lives? Would it have helped them as they travelled down that road to success? Would the path have been easier, much faster, more efficient, and would there have been less hassles, headaches, challenges, pain and anguish?
I personally think so, and for this reason I am passionate about helping others to learn the art of connecting with others. And as indicated, this will take a very intentional and conscious effort to accomplish, but rest assured anybody can learn to be a ‘connector’ with the right tools, guidance, training, mentorship, support and encouragement… And that is where we begin, with Act One.
I titled this segment of the article as; ‘The Intentional and Conscious Art of Connecting’, because that’s where it all begins when connecting with people. You must be very conscious and fully aware of your actions, your words and comments, your body language and facial expressions, as well as your tonal inflections and the overall tactfulness and respectfulness of your communications with others. You must also be willing to be extremely intentional with your actions when looking to connect with people. This could be in the form of ‘an intentional act of kindness’, which can be accomplished through many different approaches… Which can be as simple as a thoughtfully considered uplifting compliment. This is what John C. Maxwell refers to as; ‘Intentional Living’, a conscious, aware and intentional way of living, thinking and acting, and this is how you truly, authentically, and genuinely connect with others.
What I know from many years of experience is that you must have a sincere desire to want to live with intention, which is accomplished first and foremost by holding the life principles covered in Act One in the highest regard.
You need to be convicted to displaying tremendous character, strong morals and ethics, and being transparent and genuine at all times. These are the character traits that others are drawn to, and that people innately want to connect with. Most people tend to naturally connect with kind, thoughtful, and caring people who they can trust. Of course when people get to know, like and trust you, you have now created an opportunity to build credibility with them. Developing credibility will have a positive impact on all aspects of your personal and professional relationships, and is an essential element for developing rewarding, long lasting, and mutually beneficial relationships. These are the types of relationships you should strive to cultivate, as they will serve you quite well in life, and on so many levels and aspects of your life, it will be truly incredible and refreshing that it will become intoxicating due to how amazing it makes your heart and soul feel.
I know this, by having the right approach and attitude in life, you will have a more positive influence on others, and as I’ve always said to those I coached and mentored for many years; “If you do the right things, have a great attitude, connect with others, and be thoughtful, kind and caring, your life and career will in fact realize massive success!
To illustrate the point of connecting for success, Jay Hall of Telemetrics Consulting Firm studied the performance of 16,000 executives and found a direct correlation between achievement and the ability to care for and connect with people. See his findings below:
|
ACHIEVERS |
||
|
HIGH |
MEDIUM |
LOW |
|
Care about people as well as profits |
Concentrate on production |
Are preoccupied with their own security |
|
View subordinates optimistically |
Focus more on their own status |
Show a basic distrust for subordinates |
|
Seek advice from those under them |
Are reluctant to seek advice from those under them |
Don’t seek advice |
|
Listen well to everyone |
Listen only to superiors |
Avoid communication and rely on policies and procedures manuals |
Clearly, those who care about people view them optimistically and with great respect, are willing to seek advice and insight from them, are great listeners who are very attentive to them, and HIGH ACHIEVERS without a doubt connect with the majority of people, and realize greater levels of success. To be effective in any area of life, you must connect with people. It’s that simple!
Act Two – How Do You Connect? Here’s How…
At this point you might be looking for more specific guidance on how to actually connect with somebody on a deeper and more profound way, so here are some thoughts and ideas to consider as examples of how to connect.
If you already work at connecting with others, whether it comes more naturally and is done on a sub-conscious level, or you already consciously and intentionally work at connecting with people, you can always get better.
And if you have never tried consciously and/or intentionally in the past to connect with others, you will simply be amazed at the cumulative affect this approach will have on your life!
THE FOLLOWING STORY ON HOW TO CONNECT IS JUST AN EXAMPLE FOR ILLUSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY – Of course each person’s style and personality may dictate the type of interactions they prefer, the types of kind acts they are most comfortable with, or the types of conversations they prefer to engage in, therefore, this may or may not work for you, but ideally the example will be profound enough to help guide you through formulating your own thoughts and ideas that will work best for you, and that you are naturally most comfortable doing.
However, I do urge you not to fear stepping out of your comfort zone, because the view out here is simply spectacular from here! Okay I digress, the key here is simply doing or acting, and doing so with intention and conscious awareness, because that’s the only way you will really know if you have connected with someone.
Cathy Welch, Singer (member of Trio), wrote John Maxwell to tell him about a visit she had at a nursing home. Basically the story she tells John is that while waiting for help standing at a nurse’s station she happened to notice a lady in a wheel chair with her back to Ms. Welch. The elderly lady in the wheelchair was hunched over with her head almost in her lap, and she appeared motionless and completely drawn within herself, as Cathy Welch had explained.
Ms. Welch felt drawn to go over to this woman, lean down and ask her how she was doing. Of course due to the apparent state of this elderly woman Cathy Welch was not expecting much of a response. As Ms. Welch described the moment, it literally took here breath away when this woman turned her head, lifted it up a few inches, and with absolute delight on her face the elderly woman said; “I’m fine, my name is Abigail, and I used to be a school teacher.” At this point Ms. Welch’s thoughts were that she could only image how long that woman had waited for someone, anyone to come along and notice her… And connect with her. Now that’s a powerful and purposeful real-life lesson, that clearly illustrates ‘The Intentional and Conscious Art of Connecting’.
And all you have to do to connect is…
Give them your ear
Give them your time
Give them your trust
Give them your sincerity
Give them your kindness
Give them your attention
Give them your guidance
Give them your support
Give them your respect
Give them your love, and
Give them your heart!
I sincerely hope this article gave you some insight, and some compelling reasons for having a greater desire to connect with people on a whole new level. My goal was to add value to you today. by providing you with the knowledge necessary so you know HOW TO GENUINELY CONNECT WITH OTHERS FOR MASSIVE CAREER & LIFE SUCCESS!!!!!
Be well, be blessed, and wishing the absolute very best to your and yours!
Much love. Much kindness. Much respect.
Here’s to YOUR Success!!!
Michael W. Harnett
Mind Growth Matters
905-359-8109
Michael W. Harnett founded Mind Growth Matters in 2014, due to an incredible desire and passion to help others overcome their fears, step out of their comfort zone, realize their full potential, live a life of purpose, intention and significance, and achieve much greater levels of success and happiness in life and career.
Michael is a personal growth and leadership development professional committed to providing profound, memorable, and impactful learning experiences to those he serves… Adding value to you every step of the way!
Michael is an Independent Certified John Maxwell Team Coach, Teacher, Trainer and Speaker, who has been diligently trained and prepared by industry experts to deliver world-class personal growth and leadership development programs inspired by the #1 Leadership Expert in the world, John C. Maxwell.
Michael is a seasoned corporate business professional with a strong business acumen and a tremendous entrepreneurial spirit. He possesses 30+ years of developed skills in entrepreneurship; corporate leadership; business & operations management; sales & business development; promotions & marketing; coaching & mentoring; leadership, personal growth & career-path development; communicating & genuinely connecting with others; as well as industry leading customer experience delivery.
Michael’s natural ability to cultivate authentic and respectful working relationships with individuals at all levels of authority and responsibility, along with his innate ability to connect well with people from all walks of life, has allowed him to enjoy repeated success and growth in his career.
Michael has successfully managed highly efficient and cost effective contact centre business operations for many well-known North American organizations, including: US Embassy Visa Operations, Canada; Capital One; Chapters Indigo.ca; New Era Tickets; 1-800-Pack-Rat Moving & Storage; Nissan Canada.
Michael has an amazing passion for serving others from the heart. Servant leadership is a philosophy he firmly believes in because it enriches the lives of individuals, builds stronger organizations and communities, and ultimately creates a more thoughtful, caring and compassionate world that unites together.
Michael is extremely honoured and privileged to have the unique opportunity to help people transform, grow, evolve, and realize their full potential, and his goal is to always add tremendous value to those he serves.
With over 30 years of experience in entrepreneurial, business and corporate environments, Michael has the tools, knowledge, skills and expertise to help move people, teams, and organizations in the desired direction to reach their goals.
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