As a CEO, owner or leader of a company, the networks and relationships that you build can make or break the success of your endeavors. Independent business leaders tend to overemphasize their technical expertise in driving the business forward rather than relying on their leadership skills. Leadership is what is needed to pull away from the pack, move to the next level and realize the dreams that you had when you went into business. So how do you readjust the way that you operate with the business to better serve the company as the leader? When your networking within the organization is geared toward the deployment of your directives or only meeting the objectives you assigned, people tend to only achieve what they are
told to achieve – if that. Building relationships strategically means asking questions instead of issuing directives: “Why do you want to do that?”; “What else could you be doing?” and “What do you think would help more?” These are questions that elicit strategic thinking instead of realizing short-term demands.

When you broaden the scope of your internal network and build relationships based on strategic thinking, you empower the members of your staff to achieve their full potential. Don’t constrain them to your thinking. Question their own ability to grow the business and they will exceed your expectations.

By Evan Wise 2007