Building relationships is key to success. No one has career success, personal success or leadership success with out having first developed mutually beneficial relationships. For some people it seems to come naturally. They can connect, make friends, build relationships and make people feel comfortable around them. They are also among the most successful. What do they know?

You probably work with at least one person who you’d describe as relationship-savvy. Their marriage is happy, they have contacts throughout your firm, they know people from every part of your industry, they have friends on three continents and it seems like in a pinch they could call in a favor from the Pope — [...]