CHAPTER 5

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Just as successfully building one’s dream home requires an architect to create a detailed blueprint, envisioning a relationship in its final form is crucial for building that relationship successfully. To ensure that the built home reflects his design and is as appropriate as possible for the family who will live in it, an architect chooses every element and requires that every dimension and choice be drawn to exacting standards. All the materials necessary to achieve the final goal are thought through and determined well before the building process commences. Once that vision has been captured in a blueprint, then and only then can construction begin.

The same is true with a strategic business relationship. It’s key to understand that even though the perception is that most unbreakable relationships take many years to form, these relationships can also be developed in a relatively brief time by design. Speeding up a natural process is incredibly valuable—and achievable—if you approach it with the forethought and planning of an architect, a Relationship Architect. The path to success begins with envisioning the relationship and planning its progress and its ultimate destination. Forming an unbreakable relationship in an abbreviated period of time is very achievable.