PRESSURE'S ON...TIME TO PERFORM

So this Thursday is Blueprint Education's bi-annual leadership retreat in which upper management (I hate using that term because it's so divisive) gets together to discuss long range goals and introduces new ideas and concepts to strengthen the internal resources (the people).  This year I was given the task of presenting the concept of relationships and the importance of developing and nurturing relationships for the organization.  I found a very helpful article by Bryan Feller titled "Reengineer Your Sales Cycle". He provided some great tips on the sales cycle and how to best utilize your time efficiently towards to goal of getting the "yes".  His information runs parallel to how you organize and follow up with your contacts through what Blueprint now refers to as the relationship model.  Through our network of contacts, we deliberately find common ground and mutual interest and continue to collaborate on potential partnerships until we either find something that benefits both parties or if an agreement isn't reached, that contact still becomes a referral source down the road.  It's really about genuinely caring for what you do and getting to understand what the other person is passionate about and somehow finding a creative solution that helps both sides.  As hokey as that sounds, the driving force for me is to develop something that doesn't currently exist and come up with an innovative plan that in the end will be good for the next generation...is that too pie in the sky?  Who cares...it works for me.  So I think I've done enough preparation for my Friday speech and I'm ready to share the excitement I feel about this topic.  I think if you're truly in tune with wanting to help others while at the same time helping your organization, it's a very satisfying place to be.  Wish me luck!