In an exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Brad Englert, founder of Brad Englert Advisory and former CIO at The University of Texas, shares his expertise on building authentic business relationships. Drawing on his extensive experience across leadership roles at Accenture and UT Austin, Brad explains why transcending traditional networking is essential for long-term success in today’s business world. He provides practical insights into nurturing genuine, mutually beneficial connections and highlights how cultivating these relationships can drive organizational success and personal growth.
Interview By Maheen Bari
Brad’s journey, from working with top institutions and businesses to authoring Spheres of Influence, offers a wealth of knowledge for entrepreneurs and leaders looking to deepen their professional relationships and enhance their spheres of influence.
Brad Englertis the founder of Brad Englert Advisory, an author, advisor, and technologist. He worked at Accenture for 22 years, including 10 as a partner, and served as CIO at The Universityof Texas at Austin for seven years. At Accenture, Brad held leadership roles in IT for major institutions, state governments, and companies. At UT Austin, he led the modernization of systems supporting 54,000 students, 4,000 faculty, and 21,000 staff. Brad also worked at the IRS and was a high school teacher in Australia. He holds a master’s from UT Austin and a BA from Shimer College.
Why do you believe the business community needs to transcend traditional (“What’s in it for me?”) networking, and how does this shift benefit organizations and individuals?
Traditional networking tends to be transactional, short-lived–and in my experience superficial. It is difficult to engage in meaningful conversations, create rapport, or build trust with traditional networking, especially if the participants go in with a “What’s in it for me?” mindset. Networking events rarely lead to new opportunities or long-term, mutually beneficial professional relationships.
You can master influence to help your organization achieve its mission and goals by creating and nurturing authentic business relationships with your boss, direct reports, all your staff, executive leaders, customers, peers and influencers, and strategic vendor partners. You need to be strategic and intentional when determining which relationships are most important to build and nurture in order to benefit your organization and your career.
Ask, “Who are my most important customers, peers and influencers, and vendor partners?”
The good news is that you do not need to be born with the ability to build authentic business relationships. You can learn this skill just like you can learn other hard skills, like computer coding, if you adhere to the basic principles and practice.
How do you define an “authentic” business relationship, and what practical steps can professionals take to develop and nurture such relationships?
Business relationships are authentic when they are mutually beneficial, trusting, and enduring–often spanning years and sometimes decades. Three principles are true in all of these relationships: understand their goals and aspirations, set and manage expectations, and show that you genuinely care about their success.
Some of these relationships are given, like your supervisor and your direct reports. Other relationships with customers, peers and influencers, and vendor partners need to be determined by evaluating who your best customers are, who are the most influential peers and influencers, and who are your most strategic vendors. Then set a consistent cadence for meeting in person or virtually to understand their goals, set and manage their expectations, and express genuine concern about their success.
In my experience, people will appreciate you initiating a conversation regarding what is most important to them and how you can help them be more successful. Some people are good at communicating their expectations, but some are not. Just ask! It is your responsibility to seek to understand their goals and expectations. Setting and managing those expectations avoids confusion on both sides. Demonstrate you care by offering creative options to resolve problems, and by showing grit and the will to help them succeed.
Your book “Spheres of Influence” has been a bestseller in multiple categories. How has your extensive business background informed the insights and advice you share in your book and workshops?
“Spheres of Influence” is an Amazon bestseller in three categories: Leadership Training, Mentoring and Coaching, and Customer Relations. The crunchy, real-world stories in the book are gleaned from my 22 year career at Accenture, including 10 years as a partner, and eight years serving The University of Texas at Austin, including seven years as the Chief Information Officer. These stories are relevant to a diverse range of industries, organizations, and backgrounds. Throughout my 40 year career, I have enjoyed helping people grow in their careers. In addition, I was fortunate to have strong mentors who helped me along the way.
My former bosses, direct reports, staff, customers, colleagues, peers and influencers, and strategic vendor partners have asked if their experiences, achievements, and issues would appear in the book. Absolutely, but I promise anonymity. All the names of the people have been changed to protect the innocent and guilty parties, and no companies on either my most hated vendor list or my most favored vendor list have been named.
My hope is that aspiring and established professionals will find a clear roadmap for how to develop the career-enhancing skill of creating and nurturing effective and more rewarding business relationships.
Can you share some examples or stories from your career that highlight the impact of building strong internal and external spheres of influence?
Your professional relationships span two spheres of influence. The internal sphere of influence focuses on those people you have the most direct impact: your boss, direct reports, all your staff, and executive leaders. The external sphere of influence includes business relationships where you have less direct impact: customers, peers and influencers, and strategic vendor partners.
Effective relationships with those who report to you are critical for the success of the organization. You must start with the assumption that everyone reporting to you is working in good faith toward the same goals. You need to demonstrate a trusting, humble, and honest approach to doing business. As the boss, you need to be a mentor, coach, visionary, cheerleader, confidant, guide, sage, trusted partner, and perspective keeper. It also helps to have a sense of humor.
It is first vital to articulate the organization’s values, set expectations, and establish mutual accountability. Then you can focus on creating a safe work ecosystem. Finally, you need to let your team leaders know you care about their success and growth and the success of their teams. Happy employees lead to happy customers, and in the private sector, happy shareholders.
What final advice would you offer to Canadian small and medium-sized businesses aiming to build lasting, authentic relationships that drive success and growth?
You need to be strategic and intentional when determining which professional relationships are most important to build and nurture in order to benefit your organization and your career.
Keep your boss, direct reports, and all your staff aligned by getting out of the office in person or virtually to let them know you care about their success. Build a safe work ecosystem in your business where honesty and trust thrives. Check-in with your peers and influencers to understand how you can help each other and build trust. Meet with your best customers to understand their goals, determine how you can help them be more successful, and demonstrate that you care by offering creative solutions. Meet with your most strategic vendors to be sure they understand your organization’s strategy and how they can help you achieve your goals.
Master leadership influence by creating and nurturing authentic business relationships. These vital professional relationships are authentic when they are mutually beneficial, trusting, and enduring.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. This content is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered business advice.
