In today’s business and ministry environment, sustainable relationships are rare. People often abandon business-related relationships as soon as they’re confident they can get a better deal elsewhere. Here are three likely reasons:
First, it is easy for people to find better deals. Information about alternative products and services is readily available and comparative data is abundant thanks to up-to-the-minute technology.
Second, technology also makes it easier than ever for a customer or member to leave one relationship or church and move to another. Change can easily occur with the click of a mouse.
Third, people have more choices than ever. Technology and globalization have increased the number of competitive options in every industry, including churches. Potential competitors and competing messages can gain access to the same sources of capital, the same technologies, and the same customer lists, at almost the same time.
In my work, we live by the ancient Irish proverb that says, “The greatest thing we share with our friends is our friends.” Our friendships and relationships are built on many pillars, with the greatest of these being trust. Overall trust comes when we can trust in competency (do they know what they are doing?) and character (do they do what they say they will do?).
Trust is earned over time and is never acquired through position, power, or prestige. It is earned in the trenches of meaningful relationships that are there when everything else is upside down—including the most volatile markets of our lifetime.
One of the biggest challenges businesses and organizations face in the near future will be to shift more investment from physical capital and intellectual capital to relational capital. This shift first requires that we recognize the true value of relational capital to the modern business enterprise.
How is your relational capital account looking these days?
