The Connector’s Advantage
Identifying Your Profile on the Connector Spectrum
Canadian author Robin Sharma emphasizes the importance of relationships in business and life, while Michelle Tillis Lederman highlights that understanding your connector type can enhance professional connections, enabling you to achieve goals more effectively through various profiles ranging from emerging to global super connectors.
Diversifying and Expanding Your Connections
Research indicates that social media can reduce loneliness and enhance professional networking when used to nurture relationships, and in a video lesson, Michelle Tillis Lederman shares strategies for effective online and in-person connections.
Embracing Your Introversion
Introverts, often drained by social interactions, can leverage their strengths in listening and approachability to network effectively, as Michelle Tillis Lederman suggests, by volunteering for roles, arriving early, and seeking assistance to foster connections comfortably.
Four Steps for Creating Great Conversations
In her video lesson, Michelle Tillis Lederman shares strategies for fostering meaningful connections in conversations, including asking open-ended questions, practicing active listening, identifying common interests, and gracefully exiting while maintaining positive energy.
Six Ways to Frame Your Asks to Get What You Want
In a video lesson, Michelle Tillis Lederman offers strategies for making requests effectively in professional relationships, emphasizing the importance of considering the other person's comfort and providing options, while also highlighting the benefits of the ask to facilitate a positive response.
How to Say “No” (and “Yes”)
Michelle Tillis Lederman teaches that saying “no” can be done gracefully to maintain relationships while prioritizing self-care, emphasizing the importance of managing expectations and leaving room for future “yes” opportunities.
Building and Maintaining Trust
Stephen Covey emphasized that trust is essential for effective communication and relationships, a view supported by Michelle Tillis Lederman, who outlines her 4 Pillars of Trust—Authenticity, Vulnerability, Transparency, and Consistency—as key to fostering genuine connections.
Restoring Broken Trust
In this video lesson, Michelle Tillis Lederman discusses the causes of broken trust in the workplace, such as internal spying and micromanagement, and outlines steps for restoring trust, emphasizing accountability, communication, and patience.
Michelle Tillis Lederman defines a connector as anyone who’s relationship-focused. And though we tend to fulfill our basic human need for connection by nurturing our relationships with friends and family, we don’t always approach our professional network with the same level of intent and care. According to Lederman, however, the more attention you give to your connection skills, the bigger advantage you’ll have on your career-development journey since connectors are able to reach their goals “faster, easier, and better.”
Learning Objectives
- Identify various types of connectors.
- Broaden your network.
- Improve your conversational skills and tap your inner introvert.
- Maintain positive relationships when making or responding to a request.
- Establish and rebuild trust.