Today’s workforce is all about building relationships — relationships with our consumers, our clients, our audiences and the people we work alongside. 

But why is this so important? Building trust through personal relationships allows us to truly connect our work to the people we are seeking to influence. Whether it’s our clients, target audience(s) or coworkers, we must value their experiences, work styles and personality, learn more about them as individuals and adapt how we lead. 

People will not follow you until they are emotionally bought into the vision you are casting. You develop credibility with people when you connect with them personally and show that you genuinely care and want to help them​. 

In the public relations industry and beyond, here are a few things you can do before people will follow you or buy into the vision of where you want to go:

How to gain credibility through connection

·      Understand people’s self-identity

·      Meet them where they are

·      Listen to their opinions

·      Value their beliefs 

·      Build a personal relationship with them

What are some ways that you intentionally build relationships and connect emotionally with the people you’re around? We’d love to hear from you!