We’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very festive time, a time of celebration and of replenishing your energies. This is our last post of the year and in it Anthony Landale invites us to reflect on our relationships and to look at one in particular which might need updating and redesigning.

Anthony Landale

I was speaking to a coachee, George, the other week about a big new role he’s taking on. The business is in trouble and George is the man identified to turn it around. He’s got a good track record in this but what became clear to us in our conversation is that if he doesn’t update the relationship with his boss it might seriously impact on the results he achieves. How come?

If you’ve been promoted or taken on a new project you may have experienced that it can feel awkward making bold requests from people who already know you well. You see this in organisations all the time. People take on new roles and they think the relationships they’ve got are good enough. Then they encounter that awkwardness or resistance from people they used to get on with brilliantly and they feel confused. This was the danger that George faced.

George and his boss have always got on but they haven’t worked together for a few years and George is now a much bigger player. What George now faces is the task to redesign this key relationship, consider what challenge and support he’s going to need for the big task he’s taken on and get his boss’ absolute commitment for the Future he’s trying to deliver. It takes conscious leadership and the ability to engage powerfully to redesign a relationship in this way – but it’s vital whenever you are trying to pull off something important.

Nudge: What one relationship in your life needs updating? And what would it take from you to have a conversation with that person about that issue?

By Anthony Landale

Learn more about Anthony Landale, the author of this article.