The Relator talent in leadership practice. How to build loyal teams using Gallup talents?

Many leaders I work with in development processes struggle with the paradox of “loneliness at the top”. 

They have hundreds of contacts on LinkedIn and thousands of messages exchanged on Slack, yet in crisis situations they feel they have no one to rely on. 

In the business world, where the pace of change forces constant adaptation, superficial relationships become a bottleneck for effectiveness. 

As a practitioner who manages a construction equipment trading company remotely from Spain, I know that the foundation of such freedom is not a control system, but deep trust. The key to building it is Gallup’s talents, and one of them can be particularly useful. It is the talent of closeness (Relator).

Understanding the dynamics of this talent allows you to stop “managing resources” and start leading people based on their natural potential. 

What is Connections and why is it a key element when implementing Gallup’s talents in your company?

The Connections talent (Relator) belongs to the domain of relationship building. Contrary to popular belief, it is not about being nice to everyone and having a lot of empathy. 

It is a strategic ability to deepen bonds with people we already know in order to achieve common goals. A person with this talent draws energy from authenticity and reciprocity.

In the context of leadership, Connection is a tool for eliminating communication noise. A Relator leader does not waste time on courtesies; they want to know what really motivates their specialists, what their concerns are and what makes them want to deliver results even under pressure.

Gallup Institute research indicates that trust is one of the four pillars that employees expect from their leaders – alongside hope, compassion and stability. Gallup’s Closeness talent is a direct “provider” of that trust.

The CliftonStrengths methodology identifies this talent as a way to create a safe working environment where mistakes are treated as lessons rather than a reason to look for someone to blame.

Highs and lows – how to manage the maturity of the Relator talent?

Each Gallup talent can be an investment or a cost, depending on its maturity. 

In the “Name it – Claim it – Aim it” process, I teach leaders how to consciously manage their natural thinking patterns.

Feature	Mature Closeness (Investment)	Immature Closeness (Cost)
Building trust	Creating deep bonds based on merit and loyalty.	Favouring “your own” and creating closed groups.
Communication	Honest feedback that builds competence.	Avoiding difficult conversations for fear of damaging relationships.
Effectiveness	Focusing on results by matching roles to talents.	Wasting time on conversations unrelated to business goals.

Talent maturity Closeness manifests itself when a leader is able to use the power of relationships to enforce standards and implement strategies without losing the human dimension of cooperation.

Relator in the IT and pharmaceutical industries – a case study from my coaching practice

I consult for leaders in cognitively intensive industries such as IT and pharmaceuticals, where employee turnover is a huge operating cost. 

Leaders who understand Gallup’s talents know that specialists do not leave the company because of technology, but because of a lack of appreciation and a sense of being recognised as a human being.

In development teams, closeness helps in the code review or mentoring process.

A relationship based on trust allows technical criticism to be accepted without feeling like a personal attack. 

In the pharmaceutical industry, where ethics and precision are key, closeness ensures that team members feel responsible not only to the procedure, but to each other. It is this “soft” competence that becomes the toughest barrier to competitors wanting to poach your talent.

How to develop the Closeness talent? Practical steps for leaders

If you have diagnosed yourself with the Gallup talent of Closeness, you can strengthen it through specific operational actions:

• Invest in 1:1s that go beyond task status: Ask about challenges, what energises your people, and what burns them out.
• Be transparent about your values: Teams trust leaders who are predictable and authentic.
• Pair people up for projects based on chemistry and talents: Your intuition about “who will get along with whom” is a valuable resource in project management.
• Take care of onboarding new people: Remember that Relators naturally focus on the “old circle.” Consciously invite new employees into relationships to avoid feelings of exclusion within the team.

Systematically developing these areas will allow you to move from intuitive management to precisely building a culture based on strengths.

Relator and other Gallup talents – relational dynamics

Closeness is often confused with the Woo talent. 

While a person with Charm loves the process of meeting new people and making a first impression, a Relator prefers intimacy and continuity. 

In a team, these two talents can create powerful synergy: Woo opens doors and acquires customers, while Relator builds long-term, loyal relationships with them.

You can read more about other Gallup talents in my article “What are Gallup talents and how can they be used in practice?“

Summary

The Connections talent is a strategic foundation of trust in business, allowing control to be replaced with complete team autonomy. 

It is not just empathy, but a specific ability to deepen relationships in order to eliminate communication noise and achieve common goals. 

The maturity of this talent allows you to enforce business standards without losing the human dimension of cooperation.

Would you like to see how the distribution of talents in your team affects the achievement of KPIs? Schedule a free diagnostic consultation here. Together, we will build a team that delivers results through trust, not control.