Success thrives in a friendly environment

It is one thing to have your plans/ideas to succeed laid out but it is another to be able to communicate these plans to the right people. There are people out there who have missed great opportunities not because they aren’t worth such opportunities, but they weren’t able to communicate those plans/ideas properly. I’ll be talking on why creating a friendly environment is one of the important critter for success.

Let me share a story

There was time I was on an educational field trip with some of my classmates, and we had issues with transporting ourselves back to school. The organizing committee did not plan the trip well. They had an argument with the driver, apparently the driver had been complaining that he hasn’t been well compensated and threatened to leave us. My classmates started panicking because we were very far from home and did not have access to enough funds to transports ourselves home. I looked up and saw how frightened everyone was and started thinking on how to resolve the situation. I suggested that we pay the driver in a week’s time to the committee so they communicated same to the driver but he was furious and said it wasn’t the agreement they had before.

My classmates started panicking, some started calling their parents, and everyone was confused. I saw that the situation had gotten out of hand, so I stepped up. I walked up to the driver, smiled at him, and then engaged him in different conversations. We talked at length and we soon became comfortable with each other. After sometime had passed, I told him that he won’t be receiving any extra payment till the following week. I expected a little bit of protest but to my surprise the agreed with me immediately and this was because I created a friendly relationship with him, I made him feel comfortable with me, though I did it intentionally, I also ended up being comfortable with him. I went back to meet my classmate then told them not to worry they were all relived. I learnt a good lesson that day- I was successful with my negotiation.

A friendly environment doesn’t mean you should be friends with them.

Okay one might ask that how do you become friends with a potential billionaire investor, or how do you become friends with that intransigent professor in your faculty. A friendly environment doesn’t literally mean you have to be friends, rather it means creating a familiar atmosphere. An atmosphere where you can freely express yourself, an atmosphere that is ideal for communication. You can create a friendly environment by doing the followings

Encouraging and communicating with people around you

It is important we engage with the people around us. When we do this, we create a relationship with them. Communicating frequently and initiating conversations with them helps create a foundation for a successful journey. So whether you are in your workplace, school, residential communities, and so on we should always communicate proactively

Being intentional about creating a friendly environment

Yes, you create a friendly environment by being intentional about creating it. Although, once in a while, situation arises where you connect with others naturally either by identification with a common interest or by chance, but this happen once in a while. Being intentional about making an environment familiar for you will make you want to always put an effort towards it.

Creating avenue for further communication and interaction

Sometimes, we get to connect with totally new people, this can happen on the plane, on the bus, or at the train station. When we do meet this people, we should endeavour to create an avenue where there will be further discussion in the future. You can do this by exchanging your phone number, exchanging your business card or as the situation requires.

Providing a listening ear

Showing that you are available to listen to others really make them become comfortable with you. Always be ready to listen to others, be it your friends, colleague at work, your superior and or subordinates

Connecting with your superiors on a personal level

Promote relationship outside work by checking up on your superiors, especially if the said superior is your mentor, send them birthday gift cards and messages, asking about the welfare of their families, etc. This will make them have a liking to you.

Connecting with your subordinates on a personal level

In addition to connecting with your superiors on a personal level, also learn to connect with your subordinates on a personal level, especially if you are a office work and your performance is evaluated based on the collective efforts of members of your department. Motivate them by treating them to lunch/dinner/breakfast, throwing small parties to celebrate small milestones and also sending them birthday gifts.

Note to self

A friendly environment is more beneficial to you than the people around you.