be "the one who calls".
Borrowers shouldn't wait until they need something to talk to their lenders. Like the recent college grad too busy to talk to their parents, they limit themselves in unforeseen ways.
Remember when you left home, your folks would call to check in and you'd roll your eyes, and then 5-10 years later you're calling them? As you started to be the initiator of these check-ins, you probably noticed your parents felt less of a need to call you. You stopped receiving "are you alive?" texts. The tone of conversations lightened as critical / time-sensitive topics were no longer the only agenda items, creating room for you to learn new and unexpected information (e.g., so-and-so just had a baby or got a raise). You may have even been shown favoritism over your siblings when you visited, like getting your favorite meal / dessert or dibs on the car - because you're "the one who calls".
Your lender is like a parent with 40 children that just graduated college. To help maintain connection, they lay out formal terms at the onset for communication (reporting requirements). Often seen as a burden, some will instinctually try to limit and avoid these, like the unruly 22-year-old. This may not matter when times are good and they don't need anything, but it can be critical when things get choppy. Imagine you're the parent and all 40 children call asking for money — which do you call back first? Which can you better defend to your partner should be the one that gets what they want?
The Uncommon Borrower develops good communication habits with their lenders — they 1) are proactive (vs. reactive), 2) grab the low-hanging fruit (share things already being reported that are helpful — e.g., monthly financials), 3) put in place processes to deliver consistent and relevant reporting (don't overload / focus on what they want — e.g., performance vs. budget / prior year, credit metrics, key updates).