Stepping Stones and Cornerstones

Coming soon

There are really two types of ways people approach relationships: they either extract / transact or then invest / relate

1. The Trap of the "Fix-It" Leader Explain why leaders who love to solve problems are the perfect targets for transactional people. When you naturally provide value, structure, and solutions, transactional people will flock to you. They will eagerly consume your emotional and professional investment while offering nothing in return. The trap is assuming their proximity means loyalty.

2. The Tells: Spotting the "Day Trader" How do you identify a transactional person before you invest too heavily?

• They only reach out when they need a roadblock cleared or an introduction made.

• Their emergencies are always your problem, but your emergencies are an "inconvenience" to them.

• They keep score. Everything is a trade: "I did X for you, so you owe me Y."

3. The Hurt: When the Check Bounces This is where you share the hard lesson. Talk about a time you invested deeply in a peer, a direct report, or a leader, assuming you were building a "Cornerstone" relationship. Detail the moment you realized you were just a "Stepping Stone" to them. Validate the emotional toll this takes—how it makes you want to build walls and stop trusting people altogether.

4. The Pivot: Guarding Your Vault How do you recover without becoming cold and cynical? You don't stop being relational; you just get smarter about who gets your premium investment. You learn to match energy. You can operate transactionally with transactional people (giving them exactly what the job requires and nothing more), while saving your deep, relational investments for the people who actually want to build alongside you.