It's Amazing What People Will Tell You

Recently, as part of a relationship centered training course at Pepperdine University, as part of a team building exercise, here's what we heard:

"I'm a direct descendant of George Washington"
"I was a professional beach volleyball player for 16 years."
"I was in prison."
"My grandmother is a fundraiser and knows people like Bill Gates well."
"My husband is 30 years older than I am."
"I've been a bodybuilder for 20 years" (a female)

How do you uncover this information? Most of it comes from sharing information - Mike James in my office likes to kick off a conversation by telling people he lives next door to his third-grade teacher.

When I was a consultant, I had a client who was resisting all of my efforts to help her. Finally, I decided to move our relationship to another level. One day, I called and said, "Let have lunch together."

During the lunch, I was careful not to talk about business. She told me that her great love was throwing pottery. She was so enthusiastic about her hobby that she took me on a tour of her studio and then showed me some of her pieces at a gallery.

I had worked with her for months and never saw this part of her life. Once I did , it made all the difference in our relationship. We were able to forge a collaborative partnership and her efforts to build a new leadership group were successful.


Give it a try...
Comment back here with your results.

This is Marshall Howard reminding you . . . giving goes where the relationship flows.