How to Build Relationships

Thomas E. Kenny alerted me to the following interview on Dr. Oz's XFM show with Keith Ferrazzi.

Original Air Date: June 6, 2008

"Networking" may seem like a smarmy word, but author Keith Ferrazzi says getting to know people from all walks of life and building strong relationships with them is never a bad thing. Dr. Oz talks with Keith about how to build personal relationships and shares tips from his book Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time.

Whether you want a new job or a romantic relationship, chances are you need to network with others to get it. "Everything that you want to achieve in life is with and through other people," Keith says. Making friends with people you meet is the first step toward getting what you want, and Keith says you do that by getting to know everyone on a personal level—even business contacts. "There is no such thing as a business relationship—there are only personal relationships in a business context that you are fearful of creating a personal relationship with," he says.

So how do you create personal relationships with the people you encounter? Keith offers two suggestions:

* Find reasons to care about others. A good way to ensure you'll connect with something about a new person is to project positive thoughts onto them. "Before you even meet them, you could project enjoying them—it's amazing what the mind does," Keith says.
* Offer others reasons to like you. Be generous with others and help them achieve their own success in any way you can, Keith says. If you create an environment around yourself that invites people in and makes them want to have a relationship with you, Keith says you'll be surrounded by positive personal relationships.

Related Resources

* Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz


You can listen to part of the show at: http://www2.oprah.com/xm/moz/moz_main.jhtml