{"id":7543,"date":"2016-11-11T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=7543"},"modified":"2018-08-20T13:59:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T17:59:48","slug":"pat-fords-top-tips-for-building-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2016\/11\/11\/pat-fords-top-tips-for-building-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"Pat Ford’s Top Tips for Building Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Patrick<\/a>
Patrick Ford, vice chairman and chief client officer, Burson-Marsteller<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This summer I had the rare treat of working down the hall from a public relations great, Pat Ford, vice chairman and chief client officer at Burson-Marsteller. The recipient of the Milestones in Mentoring Legacy Award from the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and recipient of 2016 Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Alexander Hamilton Medal, Mr. Ford knows a thing or two about building genuine relationships with mentees, clients and professionals around the world. He talks the talk, walks the walk and is a great person to look to for advice and valuable insight.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are his best suggestions for building genuine relationships with professionals, peers, mentors and, well, anyone:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. \u201cBe present.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a growing challenge as we venture deeper into the age of devices and constant distraction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to be effective at networking, wherever you are <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>be there completely,\u201d said Ford. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just a secret of networking, it\u2019s one of the keys to life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be strictly networking for personal gain, but rather to build an actual relationship,\u201d he said. \u201cShow genuine appreciation for time and attention <\/span>\u2014<\/span> and reciprocate it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

(<\/span>By the way, Pat and I Skyped for an hour catching up and chatting about this subject, during which he didn\u2019t check his phone or email. If he can disconnect for an hour, you can, too.)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

2. \u201cDon\u2019t make it about you.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

This applies to professionals, clients, family members and friends. Relationship building is a two-way street, and showing an interest in what the other person is doing helps build that foundation. Sometimes at conferences and various networking events, the inclination is to share every aspect about every experience you\u2019ve had to impress whomever you\u2019re speaking with. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSuspend your agenda and focus on finding mutually beneficial framework,\u201d said Ford. \u201cAssume that if a relationship is developing, you will have ample opportunity to convey your key messages to the other person [the professional\/mentor\/client]. Make it happen naturally. Be a good listener and a smart question asker. Know their company, love their brands and go from there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

3. \u201cBe open and take chances!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meeting new people, especially mentors and professionals, can seem daunting, but being inquisitive and striking up a conversation with a speaker or professional can incite something great. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t the high school dance,\u201d Ford joked, \u201cbut seriously <\/span>\u2014<\/span> don\u2019t stick to the people you know on one side of the room. Invest time in getting out there and meeting others. After all, they are all there to network just as much as you are.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

This next one doesn\u2019t necessarily fall under the \u201ctop 3,\u201d but here is some food for thought Mr. Ford shared about navigating personal, professional and mentoring relationships: If you help others achieve their goals, you likely will achieve yours in the process. The key to all of this is to build genuine relationships without an agenda or motive other than an eagerness to learn. <\/span><\/p>\n

Special thanks to Pat Ford for sharing his thoughts in this month\u2019s Intern Talk. Follow him on Twitter <\/span><\/i>@FordPat<\/span><\/i><\/a> and apply these things during November\u2019s Mentorship Month with <\/span><\/i>The Plank Center<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u2014<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Sarah Dougherty is the 2016\u20132017 vice president of career services and a senior at the University of Alabama. Follow her on Twitter <\/span><\/i>@sarahgdougherty<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer I had the rare treat of working down the hall from a public relations great, Pat Ford, vice chairman and chief client officer at Burson-Marsteller. The recipient of the Milestones in Mentoring Legacy Award from the Plank Center for Leadership in Public Relations and recipient of 2016 Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Alexander Hamilton Medal, Mr. Ford knows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2892],"tags":[201,1769,75,2599,601],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7543"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7547,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7543\/revisions\/7547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}