Building Relationships One Conversation at a Time
A Guide for Work and Home
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Building Relationships, One Conversation at a Time
A Guide for Work and Home
This book is a guide to focusing on the relationships that make our lives meaningful. To keep relationships strong and growing—and start new relationships that contribute to our growth and the growth of others—we need to have nurturing, healing, encouraging, and fun conversations. We build relationships one conversation at a time.
We live our lives through our relationships. As children, we learn to navigate the world through relationships with parents and caregivers. Then we gain a sense of self as we establish relationships with other children. We go to school and have opportunities there to establish relationships with teachers, other adults, and more children. As life goes on, we exercise more choice in our relationships. We meet new people, get to know them, and determine whether they are a good fit for us in our lives.
Our relationships matter because they have almost unlimited potential to bring us joy and sorrow. When we are in positive, meaningful relationships, we are happy and healthy; when we are in destructive relationships or are isolated, we are less happy and less healthy.
In addition to gaining benefits from relationships, we can provide benefits to others. We support friends and family members, sharing their worries and their successes. We strengthen communities as we volunteer our time and talents, share our resources, and spend time listening to others. We become part of something larger than ourselves through our relationships.
To a significant degree, relationships make us who we are. The quality of our relationships has an impact on our physical and emotional health, our academic and professional success, and the growth and strength of the organizations we work for and the communities where we live.
Relationships shape our personal and professional experiences. Our relationships can bring us happiness, increase our effectiveness at work, improve our health, and extend our influence through our communities. Building positive relationships can help us define success and allow us to create the lives we want.
We create and strengthen relationships through conversations. Conversations are the way we learn about other people, share ideas, and solve problems. Any conversation with a stranger might turn into a great friendship. Any conversation with a colleague might uncover a great new idea that will turn a business around. Any conversation with a neighbor might inspire you to make positive changes for your neighbors. Any conversation has the potential to be a game changer. And any conversation can be the one that makes all the difference in your relationship. The right conversation can change everything.
My mom never missed a chance to meet someone new, get to know someone better, encourage someone to grow, or reassure someone that everything would work out for the best. She never missed a chance to have a conversation.
Choose to say hello, to ask interesting questions, to listen more than you speak, to believe in what’s possible, and to make meaningful connections.
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About the Book
The most important moments in life involve big decisions, big events, and big opportunities—and those involve other people. Relationships make our lives work, and as it turns out, they improve our health and happiness as well. When we have good ones, they help pick us up when we stumble and fall, but they don’t just happen. Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger, who has built a career helping people build personal and professional relationships that create success, shares steps and strategies so you can: • start conversations that lead to meaningful relationships; • take a positive approach to the people in your life; • listen effectively and understand others and their ideas; • adapt your conversation style to increase connections; and • manage difficult conversations to achieve positive outcomes. Any conversation can be the one that changes everything, but you need to know how to navigate them. Take the first step to enjoying game-changing relationships and build the life you want—one conversation at a time.
About the Author
Carol Ann Lloyd-Stanger is a popular speaker, author, and mentor who helps people build the personal and professional relationships that create success. She speaks and leads professional communication seminars at corporations, associations, and nonprofit organizations. She holds graduate degrees in English and education. She lives in the Washington, D.C., area where she is a frequent keynote speaker at the Smithsonian Institution. Visit www.carolannlloydstanger.com to learn more.