Trust is at the heart of every strong professional relationship, but it isn’t built overnight. It takes time, intention, and a willingness to invest in people long before you know what the payoff might be.
In this episode of the Inspire Podcast, Bart speaks with Jordan Kajfasz, Vice President of Intermodal Sales and Marketing at CPKC, about how to intentionally build relationships rooted in trust. Drawing on his career at Maersk, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, and CPKC, Jordan shares how putting relationships first helped him build a global network and ultimately create significant opportunities throughout his career.
Jordan explains what it means to earn the right to be trusted, why asking “How can I help?” can be so powerful, and how to strengthen relationships over time. He also explores what it takes to maintain trust once you’ve earned it, especially when things don’t go according to plan.
Finally, Jordan and Bart discuss how relationship building has changed since COVID and in an increasingly digital and AI-driven world. While email, text, and video make communication easier, Jordan argues that nothing replaces genuine human interaction when it comes to building trust.
Show Notes:
00:53 Introducing Jordan
02:18 Connection over bike riding
02:43 Bart introduces the idea of intentional effort to build relationships
03:45 Maersk training program
04:12 Building a strong network of colleagues across the world
05:49 What's more important, technical knowledge or relationships?
07:21 Vancouver Port Authority
08:09 Entire career in transportation
08:42 Connecting with the rest of the industry, including competitors
09:13 Stakeholder management
10:11 The gains and losses from moving on from a network
10:30 I don't think you lose connections if you keep watering the plant
11:46 For people starting a career
12:20 CP
12:47 Building relationships at CP
13:24 The business of supply chains and their relationships
14:18 Intermodal transportation
15:19 Bart brings up the idea of "trust"
15:33 Steps for building trust, earning the right to be trusted
16:13 It takes time to develop trust
18:11 Bart asks for an example of building trust before a long-term sale
18:40 Multi-year strategy
20:42 Decisions are made by more than one person
21:26 Investing time without a guarantee
22:19 Long-term perspective is what made his career thrive
24:42 One of the most powerful things, "How can I help?"
25:37 Bart brings it back to the example
25:55 Examples of how he would help prospective clients before a formal deal was made
26:53 Work at filling up the cup
27:13 How can you tell when trust-building is working?
27:36 When they start coming to YOU
27:53 The risk of not delivering when they come to you
28:46 The moment of the big sale
29:52 Bart asks about maintaining trust after the business relationship is established
30:22 The keys to maintaining trust over time
30:30 There will always be problems that arise
31:20 The key is owning it!
31:28 Put your hand up and say, yeah, there's a problem
31:54 Example of travel problems, the most frustrating thing is lack of communication
32:32 If there's something that's not going right, say it!
32:58 Bad news is not like wine
33:17 Bart breaks it down and summarizes it a bit
34:14 What has changed about relationship building post-COVID?
35:00 AI
35:49 The changing communications tech
36:53 Over time, communication has become less and less personal
37:09 Trust needs the personal
38:47 Nothing beats a conversation with someone
41:07 It's always win-win to put time into relationship building
42:25 Thank yous
42:53 Outro
