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Relational Leadership vs. Transactional Management: Build Trust & Multiply Your Impact

Author
Stay Forth
Published
Thu 24 Jul 2025
Episode Link
https://www.stayforthleadershippodcast.com/e/relational-leadership-vs-transactional-management-build-trust-multiply-your-impact/

Halfway through summer and already feeling the rush of back-to-school and end-of-year deadlines? In this episode of the H₂ Leader Summer Series, Alan Briggs and Jonathan Collier challenge the “grind-only” mentality by uncovering the power of relational leadership over mere transactions. You’ll learn:




  • The difference between transactional (BNI-style) and relational (Coharbor-style) approaches




  • How a high-trust culture drives better engagement, retention, and results




  • The 3 Cs every leader needs—Curiosity, Care, and Consistency—and how to practice them




  • Real-world signs your organization is drifting into “just manage” mode




  • Reflection questions to help you shift from “What can they do for me?” to “How can I serve them?”




Whether you lead a small team or a global enterprise, you’ll come away equipped to strengthen trust, spark engagement, and multiply your impact—one authentic connection at a time.


Show Notes


  1. Welcome & Summer Check-in




    • Mid-summer realities: schools shopping in July, transactional everywhere




    • Why relational leadership matters now






  2. Two Networking Models




    • Transactional: “Get leads, hit quotas” (BNI-style)




    • Relational: “Get to know the person first” (Coharbor-style)






  3. Why Trust Trumps Transactions




    • As goes the leader, so goes the culture




    • Real-life boardroom example: cold, closed vs. warm, open






  4. Signals of Low-Trust vs. High-Trust Cultures




    • Do people feel safe to speak up?




    • Are values just on the wall, or lived daily?




    • Celebration vs. checkbox mentality






  5. The 3 Cs of Relational Leadership




    1. Curiosity: Ask what’s really on people’s minds




    2. Care: Show genuine concern for the human, not just the role




    3. Consistency: Do your values and words match your actions—every day






  6. Practical Steps to Shift




    • Check your own inbox: person or task?




    • Communicate context + clarity + candor




    • Use “three strikes” principle: when a tool or process fails repeatedly, pick up the phone






  7. Reflection Questions




    • How relational is my current leadership?




    • Where am I defaulting to transactions over relationships?




    • Who needs more of my presence (not just my direction)?






Resources & Links

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