The Importance Of Relationship Quality And Interdependence With Deb Mashek

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Deb Mashek, the International bestselling author of Collabor(h)ate.

Mo prompted Deb with a question about the value of interdependent relationships

Deb responded:

“Interdependence is the sense that my outcomes are tied to your behaviors and vice versa. Whether we like it or not, we are in the same boat so to speak. I’m from Nebraska so I like a good farm metaphor. Whether I like it or not, my wagon it hitched to your horse and I really hope that they are not ill-mannered horses that are going to run me off of the cliff. It takes a lot of trust to be in a highly interdependent relationship, but that’s where the real magic is. So, what we know about humans is that people like us more when we show our vulnerabilities and when we ask for help. It’s such an easy thing to do and I would say to start small… You could ask, “Hey this word keeps popping up in our interactions and I’m not sure what that word means. It is not familiar to me in my discipline. Can you walk me through what it is or recommend a reading that will help me understand?” What you are doing there is both saying that you don’t know it and are confident enough if your own being to admit that vulnerability and I trust you enough to not attack me for it. I also think you’re a friendly enough person to help me with it, and I’m curious about you, you have this expertise that I would like you to share with me. I would start there and it they respond positively, which they are most likely going to, then the next time escalate to something and ask, “How does this process work in your industry?” “How do you face this challenge that we are also up against?” Everyone’s facing challenges. It’s great getting to brainstorm and share those ideas with someone else. Then it feels amazing when we get to help somebody solve their problems. If they reciprocate, you are starting to build that energy that is going to be magical down the line.”

Dive deeper into the conversation with Deb Mashek here.

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Thanks for reading!

-Mo