How can you maintain professional relationships when you're busy?

Creating balance between both. This can be done by given attention. Communication should be established:- This will send signal/message to your fellow professional that you are with him.

Be it weekly or monthly, to nurture professional relationships, use this time for check in, follow up on prior conversations, and to ensure sustained effort in building and maintaining valuable connections.

Coaching leaders and their teams the day to day activities can consume them where they begin to live in a reactionary mode just trying to accomplish the tasks in front of them. Instead, make sure networking time is one of your "Rocks", a priority that you need to spend time consistently in growing and developing so that you can nurture current relationships as well as create new ones. At times, if something doesn't lead to immediate results leaders can discount the need to spend time cultivating. Networking is essential to grow your business, brand, and relationships. Spend time consistently and hold yourself accountable to measuring your effectiveness so that it will lead to driving results now and in the future.

Currently, I'm mentoring someone and I gave them some sound advice on relationship. The professional is approaching 30 and I advised that by the time you are 35, you circle will become smaller in the business world. They are the type that wants to hang on to people until the end and in this day...that just simply doesn't happen. My advice, if they add value to your career/business and most importantly reach out to you weekly/monthly...keep them around. They are showing interest in what you are doing. If you see that you are the one doing all the reaching out and it isn't reciprocated, it's time to move on as that relationship was only meant to be seasonal. Everyone isn't meant to see your journey through. Remove the dead weight!

You can maintain professional relationships when you're busy by focusing on strategic connections aligned with your professional goals, investing time wisely in those relationships, and communicating openly about your priorities. Set boundaries and tactfully decline non-essential commitments, ensuring that your strategic choices align with your overall objectives. This is something I have to be more intentional about in 2024 as I seek to build more business alliances. Cutting ties for time management reasons has been taken personally by some, but prioritizing my professional commitments is crucial.

Professional relationships are similar to any other relationships after all this is also a subset of life. Few years back to maintain a professional relationship and nurture it was quite a task. The golden rule is be the person you have always wanted to be and be the change you always wanted to be. The relationships need a deeper meaning they cannot be casual. My own experience is you should have people who can start from where we dropped even if we restart conversing after years. The need to keep up with a relationship is a scarcity mindset and sooner or later it will end. It is better to be who you want to be remembered as and see how and who you attract. Every one has a life but don't make relationships a need it has to be organic.