By Dr. Sophia Miranda
While, leading others within a large organization, I realized that becoming a scholar of people was a key element in my success. It became clear that understanding people on a personal level allows for you to foster better relationships on a professional/work level, in terms of identifying needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through inspiration, and executing the change in tandem with committed members of a group. So, here I share 5 ways to becoming a scholar of people:
- Become Skilled in Communication
Good relationships begin with communication. This “soft skill” can assist you in developing your people skills, conflict resolution, and collaborations with teammates and colleagues.
- Make Time for Others
Allowing yourself to be accessible to people is an important factor in building relationships with them, even if it’s for 15-20 minutes a day.
For example: You can make time for others through rounding in your office and engaging in conversation each morning starting with a simple “Good Morning, how was your weekend”. Little interactions help lay the groundwork in developing good relationships, especially if they’re face-to-face.
- Talk Less and Listen More
Connecting with teammates and colleagues starts with you practicing active listening. When you talk less and listen more, people tend to develop trust and want to help you achieve your goals because they know you care about what is going on in their lives, personally and professionally.
- Appreciate and Honor Others
A simple “Thank you” or a genuine compliment goes a long way. No matter who you are, everyone wants to feel appreciated for their hard work, therefore, show your appreciation whenever a teammate or colleague assists you. This will help in developing good work relationships.
- Keep Your Negative Attitude in Your Pocket
The Law of Magnetism alludes, that you will attract the person you are, not the people you want, based on your attitude, so focus on being positive. Positivity is attractive and contagious. Having a positive approach towards your teammates and colleagues strengthens your relationships and allows you to better understand them because they are more willing to confide in you for things.
Becoming a scholar of people yields great benefits such as teammates being more receptive to changes that need to be implement and helping you drive the initiative in an innovative manner and lastly, it allows us to experience a more enjoyable work environment.
If you would like to know more about how you can further develop your scholar of people skills, stay tuned for more articles on this topic.
Image by Josh Applegate at Unsplash