While attending the annual convention of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, I had the pleasure of hearing keynote speaker, Carla Harris. Ms. Harris is the Vice Chairman of Global Wealth Management – Morgan Stanley, a published author, speaker, and accomplished gospel singer. She vowed that when she reached senior management and people came to her for advice, she would provide them with the tools, strategies, and pearls of wisdom honed by her own experience. Many of “Carla’s Pearls” resonated, but none more so than her comments on the importance of relationship currency:

• Over time, performance currency has diminishing returns because people come to expect this level of performance from you. That’s when you need to move to relationship currency. It is not about the numerical performance at all.
   
• Relationship currency is generated by the investment you make in the people in your environment. You must put your work in context via relationships.
   
• Your ability to ascend has to do with someone’s judgement of you, which is directly related to and influenced by your relationship with that person.
   
• People won’t use their political/social currency on someone they do not know. It’s more important to be known than liked. Then, that person will speak on your behalf.
   
• To maximize your success, you must invest in the relationships.

How do you do this? Where do you start? It’s about frequency of touch. This takes a frequent but light touch with the businessperson with which you want to develop that relationship: asking them about their weekend, if you can bring them back coffee from your trip to the café, if they’d like to join a group of co-workers for lunch or drinks after work.
Your Chamber is built on relationship currency. Your fellow members are here to help you build yours.