How Do You Build Positive Relationships?

That was the questio
I always hear from most people. Of course, our life is mostly about relationships and building positive relationships to contribute to a happy life. Research found out that many career failures are not caused by incompetence or lack of skills, but by the various workplace conflicts/personality clashes and/or individual differences amongst employees or with their bosses.

When it comes to building relationships, 1) Choose harmony than being right; so forget about insisting on having the last word. Agree to disagree---sometimes, being kind is more essential than being right because building relationships is not really about winning insignificant arguments, but maintaining harmony. And besides, you don’t have to win it all—some arguments are not crucial anyway.

2) In building relationships, forget about gossip. Although at times, we can’t resist listening to those juicy gossips about other people, how would you feel if you’re the subject of those personal rumors? And what have you noticed about gossip mongers? Yes, you got it right! We don’t trust anybody who keeps gossiping and stabbing us in the back.

You’ll never know who he/she would gossip about next—it can be you. Naturally, we dislike and don’t trust those people who feel the need to criticize others, for who are we to judge others? Nobody is infallible. 3) In building relationships, listen more than you speak. The Greek Epictectus said it best, “Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak.” Don’t you just hate it if someone is trying to dominate the whole conversation, not giving others the chance to talk, as if they own the whole world? Well, how much more if they always talk about themselves on a constant basis, or even some are only seeking attention with their nonsense talk or offending jokes so that the radar’s on their focus? And egoism will turn most people off.

On the contrary, in building relationships, if we listen more and be patient (and speak less), we’re more appreciated by our friends. As much as we love good conversationalists, don’t we also love good listeners?