"The quality of your life is the quality of your relationships."  - Anthony Robbins

If you were given a few months to live, what would you most like to invest your time in?  Although some may think this question to be morbid, most of us would probably agree that it provokes many interesting thoughts.

Very few people say, "I wish I spent more time in the office." More frequently, people want to spend time with the people they really care about. So why does less and less of our time get spent in developing the relationships in life that matter? Of all the most important activities a leader performs, investing in relationships ranks right at the top.

Investing in relationships is the key, rather than just spending time with others.  So, where are you investing in your relationships?

Investing Upwards - Your Mentors

Your mentors are the leaders you respect and that you want to learn from. Believe it or not, many people do not seek out mentors to teach them in life. Our society is a culture that honors independence and self-reliance and some view mentoring as a weakness.  Others view their own failures and experience as the best teacher versus seeking out someone that has gone before them.

If you were like me earlier in my career, I really did not know how to go about asking someone to mentor me. A very practical piece of advice I received in the past was to ask a leader the top three projects they are working on. For example, they may say that they have a challenge putting together a board for a charity they are involved in. You then can ask if there would be something you could work with him or her on as a project. You are certain to pick up leadership skills from working directly with your mentor in this capacity. 

Investing Downwards - Your Students

Your students are the people you choose to teach. These people do not necessarily need to be younger, but rather ones that choose to learn the experience that you can give them.  Keep an open mind about who your students could be because these students can come in unlikely appearances.

When investing in these students, be sure to focus on the relationship just as much as you focus on the transfer of knowledge. I am not sure who originally wrote this statement but it is consistently true. They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Get to know them. Ask and follow up on the things that are important to them.

As leaders, we continually look for ways to learn and one of the best ways is to teach others. To teach effectively we must not only be knowledgeable, but instead be a master in the particular area. Mastery only comes from knowledge that is applied repetitiously with a successful result. Who can you seek to invest in teaching? Begin by being aware of opportunities that come to you. 

Investing Across - Your Peers

If I asked you if you had a personal board of directors of six to eight members that you trusted to provide counsel and feedback on your decisions, would you say yes?  Hopefully you would because developing a close network of people that not only know you well, but also can give you direct feedback even though it may be harsh criticism is very valuable.

You would be in a small minority if you actually said "yes" to this question. Keep in mind, I described a personal and not a business board because a member of your personal board needs to be able to see you as you are without conflicting interests. Being completely open with the board of your company is difficult because they are measuring your performance. Transparency and authenticity is sorely needed to build mutual trust and growth.

If you do not have a personal board yet, consider who you want to invite. I have seen some personal board members even serve as executors for each other's family estate.  You also may go as far as to define a covenant, an agreement between both of you to act on certain principles. 

Most relationships are mostly on the surface, so think more deeply about how you want to invest in your close business friendships. There is no better opportunity to begin investing in your relationships than now even in this economic crisis. Some practical advice is to find tools such as social networking to assist in managing your relationships. 

People are busy and relationships take time in abundance, so find a way that makes it easier for you to invest in others as it will pay you dividends down the road. Choose one person from each of the categories above to get started and determine how you can invest more heavily in those relationships.

Brian Blomgren is the owner of Atlanta's ActionCOACH, a business coaching and training company. Brian's professional experience includes work with McKesson and HBO in addition to owning and investing in several independent business ventures. Brian has an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Emory's Goizueta School of Business. Brian specializes is helping small and mid-sized businesses become more productive and successful.