Media Training Question #78 – How Important Are Friends?

Feb. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Have you ever noticed that depending on the relationships in your life you can often or do often tell friends things you would never tell family, even your spouse?  It’s an interesting dynamic if you think about it.  What we communicate to our friends, depending on how deep that friendship is, can assist you in making an important decision or just allow you to vent about something minor but something that you just need to get off you chest or anywhere in between.  I’m in no way knocking the significant others in our lives; it’s just a real observation.

Often while working with clients I get to know them better than many people in their lives.  The reason for that is actually pretty easy to understand.  I am helping them accomplish something that is of critical importance and that immediately gives me an elevated status in their lives even though I may have only talked to them once before.  Of course those who have worked with me know that I put a lot into out initial interview session and spend a great deal of time listening to them, allowing them to dream aloud, and encouraging it actually.  I go out of my way to pull information from them that will ultimately lift them higher.  It’s my job and all conceit aside, I am very good at getting to the core of a person and their goal and therefore that gives me special consideration and some immediate importance to them as well.  It’s a responsibility I take seriously and am honored to be involved in.

It is not uncommon that many of my clients have become good friends.  Many of them keep me updated on their progress, which I encourage because I actually do have a personal interest in their success.  I want to know how they are doing and many times by the time they get to me they have been at what they are working on for many months, if not years and they get validation from me that they need and deserve..  

Again, I am the message guy so I am literally helping them shape a message that clearly defines what it is they believe.  I help them in finding the message or messages that will hopefully give them an edge in getting that message to matter to other people and of course when it works they do give me some credit for that which I appreciate, but I’ll tell you as I tell them, it was always their message I was just able to find the angle or power that was already there just not perfectly found yet.  It is a collaborative process and honestly they did all the heavy lifting I just happened to be the guy that took it to the next level.

This situation brings us close together quickly and because of the process our relationships are likened to warming something up in the microwave.  They are asked to put a great deal of trust in me almost immediately and I am tasked with designing a personalized program that will exponentially increase the impact of their message hopefully creating opportunity.  

It’s a very fast process.

As I was thinking about how important all of our relationships are and as I am always looking to improve the way I do everything I do, it does require serious thought and dissection which I take very seriously.  I never want to fail these people who trust me with their dreams and life work and I always want to get better, never just relying on past success.  These client relationships, it occurred to me recently, were really no different than the friendship we have cultivated over the years.  There is a reason that some friendships last long periods of time, even after we physically leave each other.  I think about friends of days gone by who I still have great affection and love for even though I no longer talk to them.  I think about those people in my life, those friends who at one time or another were critical in shaping my point of view of perhaps helping me through a difficult situation, or even being there to celebrate a great accomplishment.  So in a very real way, our friends have helped all of us shape our messages.  They have played that role in our lives that I often play in the lives of my clients.  It’s very empowering and enriching on many levels.

In solid friendships that door swings both ways.  In extraordinary friendships no one keeps score and no one cares. That friendship is just unconditional and needs no explanation or conversation.  It just is, right?

My point today is that help often comes from the places we may least expect it or it may present itself in ways never expected.  Seemingly a complete stranger can come into our lives and suddenly give us hope that we never dared to think about before.  A conversation that happened out of the blue with an old friend suddenly provides a way out of a situation we thought we didn’t have an answer to.  Even something as simple as reading a story or a book can provide a path and in those messages we carry a seed that we end up planting into a friend and that message grows.

I’m sure there’s a “thank a friend” day or some other thing out there as there seems to be a day, week or month for everything.  But we needn’t wait for that to thank a friend, think about a friend fondly, or remember to reach out and be a friend.  

When I was in high school I was in a choral group called Friends.  Think Glee without so much talent!  I to this day believe the choir director was an amazingly humane person because that last thing I was was dancing material and I could barely hold a tune, but he allowed me to participate and I enjoyed it a great deal and made many friends while being a member of Friends.  The video I attached today was our “theme” song and is performed by Elton John.  It’s one of his lesser known songs but one of his best.  It also says everything I can say about friends.  Listen to the lyrics and you will figure out why.

So to all my friends, whether they are clients, friends, family or whomever, thank you for helping me work through life with you and showing me that the messages of our lives matter and allowing me to help you shape yours.  For that I am humbled and grateful.

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As the host of his own nationally syndicated radio programs for 15 years, Tony has interviewed over 25,000 guests and appeared as a guest on over 800 radio and national television shows. He founded of his own public relations firm and he went on to author two books and became a “go to” authority on a myriad of issues from weight loss to self empowerment; from politics to pop culture. His list of media training clients number over 2000, many of them well known celebrities and authors. He and enjoys of the challenge of helping people discover their voice.Tony is respected and well known for his honesty and willingness to do what it takes to get to a core message. He works tirelessly with his clients and advocates for his clients in finding the most passionate and profound tenets of their message and then giving them the tools to deliver that message. http://www.mediatraining.me