Second day out on the job and I’m sent from the office for two days of Corporate Alliance relationship building with 50+ other people from across Utah. Destination: Midway Homestead Resort. Agenda: Five sessions. Goal: Become a relationship coach.

I was the last-minute entry into the game, taking the place of my boss, Phil Burns. The training manual for the event included everyone’s bio—except mine. I was the unknown added to the mix. As it turned out, there were plenty of activities where I could say what I knew and didn’t know. And there were those mixers that brought me closer to the people in the room. In the end, no bio was needed. We formed our own opinions and discovered personal tidbits about each other that are now priceless resources that make us advocates for every member of the “Summit Team.”

Right out of the shoot Jared, the president of Corporate Alliance, claimed “the quality and quantity of our relationships will ultimately determine whether we succeed or fail in business.” This was not a new concept to me. Most of my jobs over the years have leaned heavily on the customer service side. And I have worked in those positions with the approach of building and maintaining those relationships by finding the need and fulfilling the need over and over again. I also know that the success of any enterprise in which I work requires the engagement of all stakeholders and the maximization of the potential of the group.

So, what did I learn from this first day of training? What will I bring home from those preliminary 12 hours? I think some better questions to ask are “What did I become because of this first day of training?” and “Who am I now?” I became a friend to Wendy, Radene, Travis, Jonathan, Beth, Staci, Jim, Jeff, James, Dennis, Dave, Damon, Cynthia, Curtis, Brock, Bret, Alan, Martin, Rob, Thomas, Amy and others. I am now a person with a “relationship power index” (rpi) to all of the people at the summit. Now my rpi with this group of people is admittedly at the lower end of the scale at the moment, but day two is just ahead.