Prosperity Through Partnership

When you learn to trust one another and to resolve conflicts to your mutual benefit, you will enter the Cooperation stage of partnership. You learn to share power and appreciate each other’s unique abilities and gifts. Getting past the power struggle stage and building a workable relationship that fosters true collaboration will pay off well. Your teamwork will move you into the cooperation stage if you commit to:

·         Treat each other like real partners and divide tasks equitably

·         Stick to your clearly defined roles and responsibilities

·         Make sure the authority goes with the responsibility

·         Be direct about how you will make decisions together

·         Continue building trust and respect for each other

·         Develop strategies for avoiding pitfalls

·         Create guidelines for handling future problems

Now that you are working well together your partnership can progress to the next level where true connection occurs and your combined efforts equal much more than their sum. Stay tuned to learn about this most productive and profitable stage of partnership!

When the Honeymoon is over the Power Struggle will start!– It is inevitable that when new aspects of personalities emerge conflicts will occur. This is the stage where partners test and judge each other. It is necessary to build trust in this stage of the partnership to move on to working well together. Hopefully all major issues that arise have solutions built in to your partnership agreements. For handling ‘smaller’ issues commit to:

·         Be flexible

·         Work out differences side by side

·         Balance emotions with rational dialogue

·         Listen to the other side of arguments and reserve judgment

·         Seek common ground and learn the underlying intentions of each partner

·         Keep partners informed on any matters that could affect the business

·         Not assume you know the other persons thoughts or feelings

·         Give the benefit of the doubt to your partner

·         Revisit agreements and revise or amend as needed

·         Seek outside advice and support when necessary

Sadly many partnerships fail because they get stuck in the power struggle. Don’t let this happen to you. See past the disagreements and commit to working out issues. The rewards will be evident when you progress to the collaborative stage of partnership.

Partnerships, and all relationships for that matter, go through predictable stages. Knowing these stages is like having a map that will help you to know where you are and get to where you want to go. It will also allow you to deal effectively with the particular issues of the stage you are in.

The first stage is Attraction. This stage of relationships is characterized by a fascination with another person, organization or project, a desire to learn more about them, and to share with them. This is the stage that is fun, feels good and people wish would last forever.

The Attraction stage is similar to a Honeymoon in that everything is exciting and everyone is on their best behavior. This is when partners are focused on and exploring positive possibilities. Small disagreements are probably overlooked until they build up to become major issues. While the relationship is still in the agreeable Attraction stage commit to:

• Resolve any doubts that you should be partners by learning more about each other

• Make sure your individual visions for the business and its growth are similar

• Undertake a strategic planning process

• Clarify with yourself and each other what you want from the partnership

• Build trust and confidence in one another and your ability to jointly manage the business

• Contribute what is needed to make the venture a success

The partnership will inevitably progress to the next stage. After all, the Honeymoon does not last forever! But if you have set a strong foundation using the above suggestions, the negative impact of a power struggle will be minimized.

I have not been posting to this blog lately as I have been focused on writing an ebook about how to form great business partnerships. I have been gathering information for several years about the right and wrong things entrepreneurs do when partnering in business. In the past few weeks I have been prompted by questions and comments from several of my contacts to share this information. I’m not sure what is prompting the recent interest in business partnerships in my network; perhaps the current economy.

Instead of handing over or emailing lists of tips and notes about why and how to partner in business, I decided to put the info together in an easy to use, concise ebook. I am putting the finishing touches on it now and adding valuable resources. Stay tuned.

I was angry watching the Today show the other morning. Their producers picked up on the NY Times article I mentioned in my last post about successful women entrepreneurs hiring their husbands.

They showed clips of interviews with two of the couples and then had two “experts” comment on this business model. The male “expert” is a journalist whose then-wife was his boss at a publication for which he wrote. When she turned down an article from him he went above her head for approval and was also rejected. He thinks no man should ever work for his wife. He had no experience working for a successful entrepreneurial woman. Working for a woman who is a manager in a corporate environment is not analogous to working for a woman entrepreneur who owns a family business.  Also he was so bitter and surly, I don’t think he could work for any woman and it is evident why his former boss is no longer his wife.

The other “expert” was a family therapist. Also, in my opinion, not qualified to comment on this topic since couples working together or otherwise do not seek therapy until it is too late. She did not mention that she has experience counselling couples who work together and if she does, she probably only sees couples with insurmountable problems and not those who are working together with some minor issues that need improvement.

In the NY Times article with this title on June 29, 2008, the writer profiled several Couplepreneurs who worked together in businesses built by the wife who later hired the husband. Although the article stated that “the odds are loaded against couples working well together”, only one of the eight couples failed and divorced. The successful couples generally agreed that their partnerships work because they carefully delineated their respective roles and play to each other’s strengths. Good for them. They know the secrets of successful Couplepreneurs.

I am interviewing a successful couple that fits the above profile on my radio show today at 6pm EDT. My interview with Rachelle Disbennett-Lee PhD and Adrian Lee can be heard live and will be archived for later download at www.blogtalkradio.com/jean-charles.

Most people focus on partnerships with others. None of these relationships can substitute for a great partnership with yourself. To partner with yourself you need to be totally aware of your beliefs, values, life purpose, strategies, goals, and objectives (both personal and professional). All of these must be in complete alignment with where you are going and how you plan to get there.

When you are a great self partner you:

• have a clear, sense of direction with the end result in mind

• calmly and effectively get things done

• are rarely caught up in minutia

• know the right things to do

• are guided by your personal and professional values and vision

• focus on the activities that best fit your plan

• are at peace with yourself

• feel a real sense of internal harmony

When you form a strong partnership with yourself people will see a difference and so will you. You will be more successful, have less stress, greater focus and more peace of mind.

“We are all connected to everyone and everything in the universe. Therefore, everything one does as an individual affects the whole.” Serge Kahili King

“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.”
Augustine of Hippo

“Only when one is connected to one’s inner core is one connected to others.”Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Forming positive connections within yourself and with other people is essential for a fulfilling life and business success. I call these positive connections partnerships. The failure to connect leads to confusion, loneliness and that uncomfortable sense of being excluded. Your degree of happiness is very closely tied to the quality of the partnerships in your life.

The more successful connections you have with people who genuinely care about you the happier you will be. It is also true that the number and quality of your business connections significantly affects your success. High income professionals understand the importance of connection. Research demonstrates that top executives network extensively both in and outside of their organizations. They connect with and recognize the importance of partnering with people at all levels.

The principle of reciprocity is extremely valuable in forming connections. It is simply this: If you do something nice for someone else, they will feel obligated to do something nice for you. You should always be looking for opportunities to go the extra mile, to do more than you are asked to do, to put in more than you take out.

Time spent cultivating connections is not peripheral to your business or your life, it is an integral part. A positive connection when nurtured can and will lead to long-term success.

Fortune magazine’s article “The Best Advice I Ever Got”, in the May 12, 2008 issue contained interviews with 19 accomplished people from many different fields. Zhang Xin, CEO of SOHO China, mega-property developer and #7 on The Forbes 400 Richest Chinese in 2007  turned the question around and gave “the worst advice I ever got”; and I quote,”Don’t work with your husband (Pan Shiyi). Marriage and business don’t mix.”

She continues, “In our case I think our business success springs from our friendship. When you have two people trying to figure out problems together, one brings out new things in the other…we approach decisions in very different ways and play different roles. He’s brilliant at sales, I worry about contruction.”

Her ending quote, “Put the things that you love into one portfolio.”

What a great role model for aspiring Couplepreneurs! My hope is that many more couples ignore the “worst advice” that Zhang Xin got.

While I was preparing a presentation for a group of entrepreneurs on recession-proofing their businesses I realized that many of the tips were all about partnership. Here they are:

·         Surround yourself with smart people

·         Set up advisory boards of outside professional people-  include an attorney, a certified public accountant, civic club leaders, owners or managers of businesses similar to yours, and retired executives.

·         Don’t “short-change” yourself on professional services - Regardless of the costs involved, it always pays off in the long run to seek out the advice of experienced professionals before embarking on a plan that could ruin you

·         Make yourself and your business more visible - Network, participate in trade shows, get involved in your community. You want to show the world you’re not hurting-even if you are.

·         Step up collaborative efforts with complementary professionals

·         Join your industry’s trade associations - If you are given a membership certificate or wall plaque, you should display these conspicuously on your office wall. Customers like to see such “seals of approval” and feel additional confidence in your business when they see them.

·         Put your satisfied customers to work for you - Ask them to bring in new clients or recommend your work to others. Reward them for it by offering small discounts the next time they do business with you. Or simply ask them for testimonials you can use in your marketing efforts

·         Have your spouse work in the business with you

·         Hire or contract with talent laid off by competitors

·         Consider mergers or acquisitions with weakened competitors

·         Consider a formal business partnership

Let me know if you can think of any other ways to use partnerships to recession-proof small businesses.