Why is connecting with people important to me?

One of my daily habits, it to invest time connecting with people, as well as helping them connect with others.

Here is a definition I have found interesting:

Connecting with someone means feeling like you deeply understand and share the same vision with him/her. The purpose of connecting is to develop a deeper relationship that will help you to get more out of your friendship, your romantic relationship..etc. You get better at it by understanding how others think and interact.

When I have developed a connection with someone else I am able to:

• Truly understand the world from its eyes.
• Share experiences, values, ideas that would inspire each other to learn something new.
• Validate my perceptions about how the other person interacts and think with me and others.
• Improve the way we communicate, collaborate and finally do things together.
• Share and spread love through the energy released by our connection.
• Create a future that's reachable, possible, attainable.

By developing deep connections, I have been able to identify potential areas of improvement for myself, a given team or organization. It has helped me with exploring touchy areas, unexplored territories, empathize and ease my path to become a better leader, help me improve my performance, survive and thrive personally and professionally.

How do I do to connect with someone, and how does it help me at the workplace?

• I start by learning more about that person through curiosity. A one on one meeting, or a virtual coffee could be a good way to go.
• I genuinely show that I want to learn more about their story and know about what brought them to the place we are sharing at the moment we meet.
  • These are my favourite ways to start connecting. I might do that by:
    
    • Listening to understand
    • Asking open-ended questions to understand.
    • Gaining context and learning more about the stories that the person I am meeting is willing to share.
    • Being fully present.
    • Staying truth to self.
    • Being generous with self and the one in front of self.
    • Avoiding assumptions
    • Staying curious.

What's the value of connecting with people for me as an individual, team member or organization employee?

Collectively we could:

• Develop ideas and be able to innovate.
• Inspire each other to change/improve ourselves.
• Learn new things.
• Inspire others to connect with each other.
• Build a network based on trust, where everything might be possible.
• Get new perspectives.
• Empathize with others.
• Develop friendships for life.
• Ease communication, interactions and collaboration.
• Stay motivated to inspect and adapt.
• Growth.

What about you?

• What do you connect with someone else?
• How do you do it? What's your favourite approach?
• What's the value connecting with someone else has for you?
• What is holding back to start now?

My invitation is to create the future you believe in by investing time connecting people 

I personally thank you for reading my article. I celebrate your courage, bravery, perseverance and resiliency.

Please take a deep breath, keep yourself and others around you safe, and remember that:

No matter what happens, I strongly believe that we are incredibly better together!

Jesus