Understanding Professional Relationships
When starting out, most young professionals find difficulty separating personal from professional, particularly with relationships. This can lead to miscommunications, hurt feelings, and general unhappiness with a job or a company.
To help prepare you for life after college, Michael Asher, Director of Operations at Haskell, explains professional relationships and how they differ from personal relationships.
For us to be successful in most businesses, it is critically important to understand why they are different. He further explains how to create strong, fruitful relationships within your company, with customers, and with clients.
Welcome & Agenda
Michael briefly touches on his experience in the life sciences industry, as well as the agenda topics of discussion
Introduction
This lesson introduces the idea that business in any industry is built on relationships and trust, so it’s useful to understand how to best interact with and serve customers
Relationships
Discover the different types of relationships and the components that define a healthy relationship
Explore the differences between personal and professional relationships, key things that are true about all relationships, and when to proceed with caution
Michael explores how thinking about how one feels is easier than attempting to recall specific facts about a situation – and ponders why that is
This lesson addresses how powerful emotions are in our day-to-day experiences, and how our awareness of emotions is actually quite beneficial in business
Lifecycle of a Relationship (and a Project)
Michael draws parallels between the Kubler-Ross model (known for the 5 stages of grief) and the natural progression of a relationship or project
Emotions as Tools
People are naturally emotional, so being aware of that fact enables us to do more with our professional roles
Michael details examples of positive emotions, why these emotions are motivating, and how to maintain them through certain actions.
This lesson dives into how negative emotions can be useful tools for driving change, such as in sales when people can vent about their pain points
Key Takeaways & Closing
Michael recaps the key takeaways, including how to maintain relationships