I love the first of year. We all get so fired up about our lofty goals and about new initiatives waiting to be conquered! Indeed, there’s a LOT of fanfare around goal-setting at this time of year. However, something equally as important, is rarely, if ever, spotlighted: NEW, CREATIVE PARTNERSHIPS! Sometimes a unique, new partnership can pave the way to a greater level of success that you didn’t even see coming!
Definition of partnership: An arrangement in which 2 or more parties agree to cooperate for the advancement of their mutual interests.
A few years ago, I sat down with an old friend and mentor, Will Turner… On the professional level, we came from seemingly different backgrounds: Mine was corporate training and operational management and his was sales training. We weren’t clear on how this partnership would take form or what we wanted to create, but we DID feel strongly that there was good work to be done together, and that it would be worthwhile to spend time exploring possibilities.
So we began meeting at a local coffee shop, 3-4 times a week, for 5 weeks, for hours on end, scribbling our ideas into notebooks and on the backs of napkins. Eventually, we came up with a plan that would become RefuseOrdinary. Ever since, we’ve been helping each other accomplish things we previously hadn’t even considered doing–professionally or personally. (The unexpected stuff is one of the most exciting aspects of a GREAT business partnership!)
In early 2012, I had a similar “coffee shop brainstorming session” with my wife, Amanda, to explore possibilities for collaborating on some kind of project. Again, I was faced with the challenge of collaborating with someone whose area of expertise was worlds apart from my own. As a success coach, I primarily work with newer business owners to help them work fewer hours, make more money, and have a kick-butt life. My wife, on the other hand, is an exercise physiologist and medical exercise specialist; she works with people who are recovering from injuries and surgeries, and helps them return to mobility and an active lifestyle.
So this brings up a question: How do you enter into a practical partnership when the prospective partners come from completely different fields of work? Answer: Don’t focus on the specific areas of expertise. Focus on the universal skill-sets of the individuals, and on the creative possibilities that could result from combining those skill-sets.
Here is a template of some “Down and Dirty” questions that Amanda and I used to help determine whether or not it made sense for us to work together:
Should I work with this person:
- Is this person known as an expert in their field?
- Do I, personally, admire their work?
- Would I be proud to have my name associated with them?
- Do I trust this person to do the right thing for their clients?
- What is this person’s track record in the professional world?
- Could I see myself socializing with this person outside the work environment?
- Can I see myself in an ongoing professional relationship with this person? What would that look like?
- What are my reservations about this prospect? Are they strong enough to kill the idea?
What viable project can we come up with:
- What are the similarities in our respective target markets?
- What are our respective skill-sets, and how could they complement each other’s services?
- What are some obvious ways we could partner, given our individual areas of expertise?
- What are some less-obvious, out-of-the-box ways we could partner?
- Are there some projects we could monetize? If so, what does that look like?
- What is an easy project we can get started on in the next 30 days?
Exploring these questions resulted in Amanda’s and my ability to refer a lot of clients to one other, and we’ve also featured her in a few of our RefuseOrdinary programs. More recently, we did a live presentation together on creating new habits and living a healthy lifestyle after injury, and we’re also working on a joint venture with a medically-based organization in Texas.
I’ve continued using this same criteria for exploring prospective collaborative projects, and it always opens my mind to creative possibilities, broadens my sphere of influence, and helps me (and the business-owners I’m working with) grow in the process! (And of course, enough cannot be said for the process of checking your own thinking), which is a significant aspect of this model of exploration.
Consider THESE unlikely partnerships:
- Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniack
- Ben & Jerry
- JP Morgan & Edison
- Martha Stewart and K-Mart
Is there someone in your world whom you admire and with whom you’d consider forming a partnership? Perhaps it’s time to have your own coffee shop brainstorming session. You might find yourself on the verge of the next big thing!
