Building Meaningful Dad Connections with David Homan

The best connections are built on curiosity and courage to be vulnerable. How are YOU connecting with your kids or community today?

In this episode, you will be able to:

1. Learn how to foster genuine relationships through intentionality and vulnerability, both professionally and as a parent.
2. Discover how to share appropriately and empathetically to deepen your bonds with others.
3. Get practical strategies for turning everyday exchanges—at work or at home—into opportunities for meaningful connection.
4. Understand how to set clear intentions and be specific when connecting people, ensuring relationships are valuable and energizing.
5. See how expressing gratitude and embracing diversity can positively impact your family and community.

As a modern dad, I’m always looking for ways to deepen the relationships in my life—not just with my kids, but also with other parents and professionals around me. That’s why I was excited to welcome David Homan onto the Great Dad Talks podcast. David is a global connector, an author, and someone who really understands the power of meaningful connections. In our conversation, we explored what true connection looks like, the role of vulnerability, and how these skills can shape not only our careers but also the lives of our children.

Moving Beyond Transactional Relationships

We started by reflecting on the difference between networking and real connection. In David’s words, “The person you add to your LinkedIn list is just a distant memory that you… finish doing that request.” Instead, he emphasized the importance of approaching every interaction—whether with peers or with our kids—with purpose and intent.

David shared a poignant story about his childhood, where no one showed up for his birthday party (due to a mix-up with the invite time). He said, “That same fear of me in third grade still exists in me. Even though I am a best-selling author about connection… what challenged me as a kid affects me.” For me, this was a powerful reminder: the things that happen in childhood stick with us, making empathy and remembering vulnerability essential.

The Magic of Vulnerability

One of the most powerful themes in our conversation was how vulnerability fosters real bonds. Society often teaches us to lead with our strengths, but as David points out, “There’s a difference of thinking… that somebody wants to hear your whole story as opposed to giving them that teaser to see if they respond back.”

He gave a great example of sharing a personal update about his aging parents, but stopping to see if the other person wanted to reciprocate. This subtle act of opening up “builds a connection,” David explained, and paves the way for authentic conversations instead of superficial ones.

For dads, this has special resonance. We often wonder how much to share and when, especially in new groups or at school events. David’s advice:

• Share what’s happening, not just your reaction—keep it real but not overwhelming.
• Ask open questions that give others a choice to engage or reciprocate.
• Demonstrate curiosity: “If you share something and the person is curious, you’ve built the bond already.”

Strategies for Connection: With Adults and With Kids

Whether you’re at a business event or on the playground, David’s connection-building tips are refreshingly simple:

For Adult Conversations:

• Don’t rely on boilerplate questions. “Unless it is real and immediate to you, then it’s not going to be that way when you talk with somebody else.”
• Make it personal: share something genuine—like his tradition of bringing snow globes back from trips for his kids—and use that as a jumping-off point.
• Give people a clear, passionate reason for any introduction or request. As David said about networking asks: “You have to be clear when you’re asking for something, what your purpose is.”

For Parenting:

• Be courageously vulnerable and curious with your kids, just like you would with an adult you respect.
• Teach life’s important lessons early—“you have to teach them things that they won’t understand until years after you taught them.”
• Demonstrate gratitude and humility openly: let your kids see you thank others sincerely and explain why.

Building Diverse and Purposeful Communities

Another topic that resonated with me was David’s emphasis on diversity. He encourages his daughter to “talk to people who do not look like you or talk like you. Because the more diversity your network has, the more you’ll find people like you, not just who look like you.” This approach not only enriches our own experiences but also models open-mindedness for our kids.

David’s closing thought sums up his approach: “If we have more purposeful community around us in every walk of our life, we have a better world from it… our reputation means we have to always act better than the time we acted before.”

Key Takeaways for Dads

When it comes to connection—whether at home or in the wider world—here’s what I’m taking to heart from our conversation:

• Lead with curiosity and genuine interest, not with an agenda.
• Use vulnerability wisely; open a door, but don’t unload everything at once.
• Demonstrate gratitude visibly, especially in front of your kids.
• Start teaching the big lessons long before they’re needed; your children may not understand now, but they will later.
• Seek out diverse connections for yourself and your kids.
• Remember, the time and relationships you invest in now are sacred—they shape not only your life but the world your children will inherit.

Thanks again to David Homan for sharing his wisdom and stories. If you want to learn more about his work, visit orchestratingconnection.com, take his Super Connector Archetype test, or check out his book. And as always, remember: a strong family starts with you.