Coaching in analogies #24: The bank of relationship capital

When I ran communications for a water utility, I used to talk about a “reservoir of goodwill” with customers, the press and other key players. (Did you see what I did there, with water and reservoir? Anyway…) The basic idea: the organization sometimes did things that increased the happiness and understanding of stakeholders, and sometimes did things that would do the exact opposite.

Hence the reservoir. We’d fill it up with outreach events, infrastructure upgrades that solved long-standing flooding problems and the like. We’d drain it with rate increases and service outages that were unfortunate but necessary.

Years later, I think leaders can operate in a very similar way with their key stakeholders. I’ve asked clients to imagine a bank account full of relationship capital. 

My people pleasers might build up a giant cushion of savings over a period of years, not realizing they can afford to spend it in service of a decision that will cause short-term pain for the long-term good. Picture a leader who’s a great listener, has built a lot of trust with the team and nicely balances the employee’s career aspirations with the organization’s financial interests. This person has plenty to spare in their credibility bank account. When the time comes for that new direction or long-postponed reorg, they can spend almost lavishly and the team will follow along.

On the other hand, leaders with the opposite approach will face nothing but challenges in living from credibility paycheck to credibility paycheck. Their relationships will be transactional, as they find themselves in the business of trading favors to get to success. It’s extremely difficult to bring people along with you in service of a new vision when you haven’t earned enough credibility to sway them. If your boss is well-regarded, they might be able to lend you some relationship capital. But going into credibility debt won’t work in the long term.

Coaching prompts:

  • How much credibility have you earned with your boss, your team and other key stakeholders while you’ve been in your position?

  • Have you been reluctant to spend this credibility? Or too eager to do so? For what purpose?

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Coaching in analogies #25: The boss’s user manual

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Coaching in Analogies #24: Gov. Edgar in the back seat