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proportion that I had was one mouth and about ten ears. I would ask questions, questions, and more questions, and I soon realized that questions don't help you build rapport. After walking away from many one on one meetings shaking my head because I hadn't build a solid rapport with the person, I realized that I had to figure out a way to find common ground with the people. So, I've learned to ask certain questions that get people to talk about their job, family, or a hobby. I can always find a way to relate their job, family, or hobby to some kind of experience I've had. This lets them know that we are similar people and that we've went through some of the same circumstances, which makes people feel that I understand them. The key is to use questions not to get the person to talk, but to get the person to talk so you can find something that you have in common. Building rapport is crucial when it comes to forming strategic alliances.

Forming strategic alliances with business associates can be a difficult task. You're always going to face the trouble of someone trying to take advantage of the other person, so you need to have a win/win mindset and communicate your sincere and genuine intentions to the other person. Having a win/win mindset is when both people benefit equally from a relationship or situation. In Steven Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People he states, "If both people aren't winning, they are both losing." A strategic alliance is when you can share business, clients, and information that will benefit both of your businesses. This takes a significant amount of time and effort to build a level of trust where this kind of strategic alliance can be formed, but once it has been formed your business can really grow.

Now that you have your MBA and you know the three things your college professor didn't teach you before you graduated, you're now ready to run a business. Make sure that you learn to get along with other people, build rapport with colleagues, and forming strategic alliances.

Learn more about this author, Christopher Scott.
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