Relationships are important in life. They make us feel safe and help us deal with stress. Relationships aren’t only important in your personal life, though. As a business leader, you should also build professional relationships. Relationship building from a business standpoint can help you get new customers, retain current customers and manage your reputation. And it gives a best employee connect to make things work and keep all stakeholders happy with the better outcomes….
I know many people may be wondering, what am I talking about…….
David Bradford is the Eugene O’Kelly II Emeritus Senior Lecturer in Leadership at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. He received his B.A. in Psychology from Oberlin College in 1960 and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1966. After graduation, he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1966-1969. In 1969, he came to Stanford University to join the Graduate School of Business in order to develop what has become the landmark course in the MBA program – Interpersonal Dynamics [that students call “Touchy-Feely”].
He was the Founder and first Director of The Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society that focusses on innovative approaches to experiential learning. He was also the first editor of their journal [Journal of Management Education].
His research and consulting has focused on the question "what does it take for individuals and teams to achieve high performance?" This has led to developing new approaches to leadership that release the potential within organizations. In addition to numerous articles, he is co-author (with Allan R. Cohen) of the best selling books Managing for Excellence: The Guide to Developing High Performance in Contemporary Organizations(1984), Influence Without Authority (1990, revised 2005, and again in 2017), and Power Up; Transforming Organizations Through Shared Leadership(1998). (All published by John Wiley & Sons.) He co-authored (with W.W. Burke), Reinventing Organization Development(2005; published by Pfeiffer/Wiley) and co-authored with Carole Robin CONNECT:Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues {2021; published by Crown Random House). He has helped develop three executive training programs in conjunction with Wilson Learning Corporation, ODI, and Ninth House.
Dr. Bradford has lectured at and consulted for a range of organizations in the private sector including Frito-Lay, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co., McKinsey & Co. Raychem, Starbucks, Roche Pharmaceutical, as well as in such not-for-profit organizations as The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Art Gallery of Ontario, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Getty Museum, and The Whitney Museum of American Art.
