Show Notes
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
More from The Inspire Podcast
Only about 1 in 5 Canadian employees are engaged at work. So what’s causing so many people to check out, and how much of a difference can leadership really make?
What really motivates us? And why can some environments bring out the best in us while others slowly drain our energy?
In this episode, Bart welcomes Dr. Julie Morris to explore why psychological safety is so closely tied to employee engagement and high-performing teams. Julie shares her journey from earning a ThD in ethics at Duke to working in technology and ultimately at Glint, Microsoft’s employee engagement platform, where her work led her to explore psychological safety and what it looks like in practice. Drawing on that experience, Julie discusses the six pillars of employee engagement and explains how psychological safety is woven throughout them. She also shares insights from the psychological safety program she developed for managers, including three practical strategies leaders can use to foster it on their own teams.
In this episode, Bart speaks with Rabih El Khodr, author of The Way Out of Burnout, about what burnout really is, how to recognize it, and what it takes to overcome it.
In this episode of the Inspire Podcast, Bart Egnal welcomes Jennifer Gabriele, Partner and National Leader, Leadership & Team Development at Humance and co-author of The Inspirational Leader. Drawing on insights from her research and work with leaders across Canada, Jennifer explores how leadership has evolved in the wake of COVID and what it takes to manage and inspire teams in today's workplace. She discusses the shift toward shared leadership, the importance of executive presence, and why authenticity matters more than charisma.