The Bond Factor: Relationship-Driven Performance

By Wanda Shoer

In most organizations, almost nothing gets done alone. The most complex initiatives, whether enterprise-wide changes, cross-functional launches, or major pivots, don’t succeed on strategy alone. They run on trust between the people doing the work.

This is the second piece in a series on the Bond Factor, a leadership framework I developed centered on three core principles: adaptability, relationship building, and resilience. The first piece, The Bond Factor: Connecting For Success In Life Sciences, focused on the bond with self. The self-awareness and clarity of values that serve as your anchor when navigating change. This second piece builds from that foundation. Once you know who you are and what you bring, the next work is relational. It is about building the relationships that create trust, and the trust that drives results.

The foundation work has never mattered more. As AI takes on more of what once required human execution, what remains is the ability to build genuine relationships, earn trust over time, and move people forward together. These are practiced skills that compound the longer you develop them. And they are becoming increasingly rare.

The Problem Worth Naming

Organizations are facing a growing relational gap. Sixty-nine percent of Gen Z professionals say the rise of technology has made them feel less connected and more isolated from others in their company and industry. That statistic points to something deeper than social discomfort. It points to a generation where many of them entered the workforce during a period of significant isolation (the pandemic) and missed the years when relationship-building instincts typically get developed — in hallways, over coffee, through the informal mentorship that previous generations absorbed without even realizing it was happening. Sixty-two percent of digitally native Gen Z globally say they struggle to build meaningful relationships. That struggle does not stay personal. It follows people into cross-functional teams, into careers that stall not for lack of talent or ambition, but for lack of the relational foundation that makes talent visible and ambition possible.

This is not only a challenge for people early in their careers. Every leader plays a direct role in whether the next generation develops these skills. The professionals who become the organization's leaders need to be the ones who feel safe enough to ask questions, challenge assumptions, and bring their full thinking into the room. That kind of psychological safety is built through consistent, intentional relationship building.

Why Relationships Drive Performance

I have watched transformation initiatives fail with exactly the right strategy in place because the relational trust was not there to carry them forward. A leader walks in with a mandate to change an organization. Without a real connection to the people doing the work, the change does not take hold. Two years later, much of the organization has slipped back into old patterns. The time, money, and effort were real. The results were not, because the human infrastructure was never built. A relational leader takes the time to understand how change lands for the people living it, asking what is working, what is causing concern, and why. Most resistance comes down to something specific and addressable that often does not get surfaced because no one stopped to listen.

Some mistake relational trust as the soft side of the work. It is far from that. It is the mechanism by which work actually moves. As leaders become more senior, this becomes more true. At that level, a significant part of the job is aligning people across functions, geographies, and competing priorities. The leaders who arrive there having already built that relational foundation have something invaluable. They understand the importance of building trust and know how to create it. They have people who already trust them. Conversations move faster. Decisions stick. Teams deliver.

What Good Relationship Building Actually Looks Like

The professionals who build strong relationships and sustain them over decades are never transactional. They approach people with genuine curiosity, and they do it consistently enough that trust accumulates naturally over time.

Part of what makes that curiosity real is the generosity behind it. Genuine relationship building means assuming positive intent, listening to understand rather than to respond, and caring about the person in front of you beyond what they can do for you. That warmth is not a personality trait reserved for a few. You have to practice it, and people feel it immediately when it is there, and when it is not.

Early in my career, I developed a habit my friends still tease me about. When I walked into unfamiliar or new environments, I reminded myself I was there for a reason and so was everyone else. Everyone carries experience, perspective, and insight you do not yet have. That mindset kept me curious. Instead of approaching conversations transactionally, I approached them openly, assuming there was something I could learn from the person in front of me. Over time, I realized that genuine curiosity is what turns brief interactions into lasting relationships. 

Choosing curiosity over an agenda is what transforms interactions into relationships.

Three practices that build strong relationships over time:

• Show up prepared. Thoughtful conversations rarely happen by accident. Before important interactions, take the time to consider what would make the conversation meaningful for all involved. The strongest relationships often begin with people who arrive prepared to ask thoughtful questions and genuinely care about the answers. 
• Cultivate without an agenda. Relationships worth having move through three stages: connect, cultivate, and activate. Most people focus only on connection or activation. Trust is built in the cultivation stage. Cultivation looks like checking in because you saw something relevant to someone. Remembering what they said and following up on it. Over twenty years ago, I asked a recruiter why she kept calling me about opportunities that did not always look like obvious next steps on paper. Her answer stayed with me. She told me I had what she called “the Bond Factor.” People trusted me, stayed connected, and continued bringing me into meaningful conversations because I treated relationships as something to cultivate, not leverage. At the time, I did not realize how deeply that observation would shape my leadership philosophy and career. The strongest relationships are rarely transactional. They are built through consistency, curiosity, trust, and mutual investment over time.
• Think long-term. Trust is built well before the moment it is needed. The instinct to reach out only when you need something is understandable, but it signals to the other person that the relationship is conditional. Those who build durable relationships invest steadily, over time, without keeping score. When trust is already in place, work moves differently. Conversations are easier. Decisions move faster. People are more willing to help carry important work forward. You cannot manufacture that kind of trust in the moment. You can only earn it over time. 

For The Leaders In The Room

If you lead people early in their careers, consider what you are making possible or unintentionally limiting. Make space for the people who will grow into the leaders your organization needs. Invite people to contribute their perspective fully. That kind of engagement does not happen in a vacuum. It is created by leaders who make time, actively seek out perspectives, and actually listen.

Part of leadership is remembering to give people context, especially when things are moving quickly. People handle uncertainty better when they understand what is happening, what to expect, and what comes next. Parents learn this quickly. You cannot simply tell a child something difficult or unfamiliar is about to happen and expect them to be comfortable with it. You walk them through it. I remember standing with my children at the entrance to a roller coaster, excited but nervous, talking through what the experience would feel like before we ever got in line. By the time we got on, the fear had not disappeared, but it had become manageable because they understood what to expect. 

Workplaces are not so different. One of the most generous things we can do for one another is reduce fear, calm anxiety, and create a sense of steadiness in the unknown. Context does not eliminate uncertainty, but it helps people move through it with more trust. 

As more work becomes automated, relational leadership becomes more valuable. The ability to think critically, build trust, and connect more meaningfully is what will distinguish the next generation of leaders. Those skills are built intentionally through the way we invest in, cultivate, and nurture relationships over time. 

 Don't Forget The Basics

The fundamentals are not complicated, but they require intention. Here are the keys to remember:

• Enter every interaction curious about the person in front of you, not focused on what you might gain from it.
• Show up prepared when someone gives you their time. Preparation is a form of respect.
• Cultivate relationships steadily, not only when there is an immediate need. 
• Think in years, not moments. You cannot always predict which connections will matter most.
• If you lead people, create the conditions where trust, contribution, and growth can happen. 
• When leading teams, remember that context reduces uncertainty and strengthens trust.

Relationships build trust, and trust changes how people work together. It creates resilience, speeds collaboration, and helps people move through uncertainty together. That is not the soft side of leadership. It is how meaningful work gets done.

About The Author:

Wanda Shoer is Chief Learning Officer at Sanofi, where she leads enterprise learning and workforce transformation initiatives focused on building a more connected, AI-enabled, and skills-driven organization. She brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across the pharmaceutical, investment banking, and consulting sectors, with expertise spanning organizational transformation, operations, workforce capability, and enterprise change.