{"id":5656,"date":"2014-11-22T18:44:46","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T18:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=5656"},"modified":"2014-12-20T15:56:37","modified_gmt":"2014-12-20T15:56:37","slug":"the-one-thing-you-can-do-to-improve-your-business-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/the-one-thing-you-can-do-to-improve-your-business-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"The One Thing You Can Do to Improve Your Business Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Humility is a trait each of us should try harder to adopt. To become a better leader, you need to learn how to tell people you\u2019re sorry.<\/em><\/h3>\n

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I was reading an article on LinkedIn the other day, \u201c10 Things Exceptional People Say Every Single Day<\/a>,\u201d and two thoughts struck me. First, every one of the 10 things is characterized by either humility, graciousness or gratitude. Second, all these characteristics have a direct correlation to respect\u2014either your respect for the person you\u2019re speaking to, or theirs for you.<\/p>\n

Sounds simple, doesn\u2019t it? But most of us have a hard time saying things like \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d or \u201cI was wrong\u201d to the people we care about and who are most important to us in one way or another, be it a business or personal relationship. And these days, very often, business and personal overlap and co-exist.<\/p>\n

The phrase that\u2019s most under-used but could have the greatest impact on our relationships with our peers, co-workers, employees and friends is \u201cI was wrong.\u201d Just think about how much heartache, angst and stress could be relieved if we all used those three little words more often\u2014and used them from a place of humility.<\/p>\n

For many of us, admitting we were wrong about something (especially in a business or employee situation) is extremely hard to do. We feel stupid, ashamed or even afraid. What will the person or group we\u2019re saying it to think about us? How will they react? Will they think we\u2019re a fool? Will they lose respect for us? Could this affect the way we run our companies?<\/p>\n

Removing the Fear Factor<\/h2>\n

These are very real fears, which is why we don\u2019t say we\u2019re sorry often enough, but these fears are often unfounded. Admitting you were wrong doesn\u2019t make you a big failure\u2014it makes you honest and open, and it makes you human. And opening yourself up enough to admit you were wrong gives other people insight into your character, even if they don\u2019t know you very well. If they perceive that you\u2019re being truly humble, their respect for you can even go up a notch.<\/p>\n

Look at it from your own perspective: Think back to the last time someone told you they were wrong about something\u2014especially someone in authority. How did it make you feel? Chances are, you weren\u2019t angry but, in fact, relieved. When someone admits they were wrong, it puts you both on a more even, psychological footing.<\/p>\n

The same thing can be said for expressing an apology. The words \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d can go a long way to repairing a rift in a relationship\u2014but only if it\u2019s sincere and unconditional. Humility isn\u2019t humility if you put a \u201cbut\u201d in front of it!<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all come across fake apologies in our lives, which always degrades our perception of the person or the company giving them. True apologies, on the other hand, engender respect for the person apologizing. When it\u2019s our turn to say \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d we can make a fresh start, hold out an olive branch and let generosity and forgiveness bring balance back to the relationship.<\/p>\n

Every human relationship benefits from humility, so make the effort to practice it with family members, friends, co-workers, employees, vendors\u2014basically anyone you come in contact with. View your interactions and conversations through the lens of humility, and you\u2019ll be surprised at how quickly fear disappears and opportunities become visible.<\/p>\n

Read more articles on\u00a0leadership<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo: Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Originally posted\u00a0OCTOBER 30th, 2014\u00a0American Express OPEN Forum Blog<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2014\u2013 Humility is a trait each of us should try harder to adopt. To become a better leader, you need to learn how to tell people you\u2019re sorry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5657,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5656\/revisions\/5657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}