Company Blog

Relating Is Good, Right?

by Adam Zack — August 19, 2026

“Sometimes “me too” is just “me.”

So I’m at this conference and I am talking to this dude who starts telling me about his cruise to Alaska with his wife and what an awesome time they had. “I went on a cruise to Alaska!” I said and proceeded to tell him about the time I went, how great the food was (and the drinks were included!) and how I loved the cities and how beautiful the glaciers were and how I saw whales and bald eagles. Man, it was a

great trip. I could totally relate to that trip! Stop there: He didn’t ask me if I had been to Alaska. He didn’t inquire which towns I liked best. He didn’t even ask if I’d been on any vacation lately. But I could relate, right? Well, by relating I:

Stopped listening to him to think about what my response would be.
Made the conversation about me instead of him.
Diminished his story by trying to trump it with mine.

I am always trying to be a better listener (at least that’s what I tell myself.) Really I am, I swear momma!

And the lesson that relating is not always a good thing really showed me how I still have a very long way to go before I am truly a thoughtful listener and a participant in a conversation that does not bring the focus back to yours truly. I aspire to be a listener and conversation participant that leaves my co-conversationalist thinking (or even saying) “Man, you’re a good listener. Talking to you made me better.” Now that would be a compliment that would make me feel much better than that trip to Alaska, even with the free drinks.