Building Partnerships
When I was a teenager, my father, who worked as a
manufacturer’s representative taught us that all business is about
relationships. At that time, I wasn’t impressed with his wisdom, but I have to
admit, my dad was on the right track. When he died, he had ten different men
swear that my father was their “best” friend. My dad valued his relationships
and took good care of the many customers, and friends with whom he came in
contact.
I keep relearning this truth as I continue to
build my coaching business. All business is dependent upon the relationships we
foster and cultivate; life itself is a series of interdependent relationships.
Part of our “job” as human beings is to constantly evaluate and repair, renew or
resolve relationships with our family, our loved ones, friends, employees,
customers, constituents, political representatives, neighbors, allies, and even
strangers.
Relating to another person is an opportunity to
notice our strengths, weaknesses, even our history. We learn more about who we
are as human beings, how we are viewed in the world. In our relationships we get
to embody those qualities and principles we hold dear. The question is not how
many relationships we can juggle but how well we embody those qualities we hold
dear!
Current business research suggests that with a
greater focus on streamlining businesses, outsourcing jobs, layoffs, and
mergers, there is a greater urgency for organizations to build and sustain
partnerships inside the workplace, between departments, across agencies, between
larger and small businesses, and between those organizations that can share
services or products as a way to build a stronger public offer. Whether
organizations were ferocious competitors or whether they ignored or overlooked
each other’s services, now they are in conversation to see how they can re-frame
their business problems and outcomes to foster collaboration. What do we
acknowledge when we cultivate dialogues about partnerships?
-
Two heads are
better than one
-
There is enough
work for all of us
-
We have outgrown
our current niche; it is time to play in a bigger arena
-
There is strength
in numbers
-
No man is an island
-
There are many ways
to skin a cat (to build and sustain business)
-
We need each other
in order for both of us (or all of us) to succeed
-
We have more to
offer (services and products) when we combine forces
I recently read an article in a popular trade
magazine that reported that the US Postal Service is now establishing
partnerships with its competitors-- an action that will enable the Postal
Service to stay in business. These strategic alliances demonstrate that the US
Postal Service has realized that it needs to shift its corporate identity and
strategic objectives in order to maintain itself in the delivery marketplace.
Building partnerships with those private sector organizations that can help the
agency hold onto its diminishing resources, will also allow the agency to
further its mission in those areas where it has achieved competence. By removing
the hemorrhaging parts of a business, or outsourcing those services that do not
net good revenues, an organization can reframe its mission and/or reinvent its
business focus so that it continues to thrive. It is very difficult to create
new business opportunities when an organization stubbornly holds to its
mission-- even if the mission no longer fits the needs of the marketplace.
Partnerships offer any business the potential for greater rewards.
But the collaboration required in partnership
building is a big issue if the culture in which you work views sharing as a sign
of weakness, or as something alien to its current business trends or worse, as a
threat to the historical and imbedded cultural norms of command and control. If
the climate or mood in your agency belies collaboration, then coaching people to
work together will only break down rather than promote relationships.
From an early age we have all learned that
partnerships-- whether between peers, families, colleagues, competitors, lovers,
friends, or customers, to name a few, are fraught with challenges. Most of us
are struggle with ourselves as we endeavor to create and sustain long lasting
relationships. I am not saying that we don’t have our theories about what works,
nor that all of us have lousy relationships, but I am suggesting that for some
reason, even though we believe in the idea of relationships, many of us lack the
skills, confidence and experience to foster relationships that leave us feeling
satisfied—at work or at home.
Where can we begin to strengthen our relationship
muscles in ways that won’t scare us half to death, or has us feeling like we are
losing control, or worse, losing what we already have? Let’s tackle a small
project that promises big results. I am speaking about establishing mentoring
programs. Inherent in any mentoring program is the creation and cultivation of
relationships between people who have expertise in one or more areas sharing
their wisdom and lessons with those who value the knowledge their mentors will
bring.
Mentoring, like coaching, happens in a
relationship. An obvious outcome(s) for the creation of a mentoring program is
the retention of proprietary information that may get lost when the elder worker
leaves. Other outcomes for mentoring programs include:
![rhonapost[1].jpg](../jpg/rhonapost[1].jpg)
