partner costs?
“Why are you giving away all of your business to your partner?”
Another great question from my “President”, Beth… as I was just getting started. She had great confidence in me which you will hear about later this week, but today, I had just come back from a meeting that again changed my life.
I have had active partners throughout my life. AND I observed the Coaching and Coaches were mostly Individual Contributors. In fact, very few had been in senior roles like the people we work with. I knew for me, I needed a partner who could fill out what I had envisioned for empoweringLEADERS. After a very awkward meeting or two, we had decided that we could partner to make both our visions come true. When I explained that full vision to Beth, she said. “WOW – you are going to need a lot more than just one Maureen!!!” True…
How many women have you partnered with… and how do you change for/from that?
Kathy picked up the bass…
…because the band needed one. Kathy Valentine had played guitar in other bands, and when she joined The Go-Go’s around 1980 she took up the bass instead. As a bass player, I respect that more than I can say. AND she wrote hits. Vacation came out in 1982, lyrics by Kathy with Charlotte Caffey and Jane Wiedlin, music by Kathy and Charlotte, and it went to number 8.
The standard for an all-female group at the time was a manufactured one, managed by men. But, The Go-Go’s wrote, played and decided together. They voted. They shared the credit. Every one of them put their own name on the others.
…and a partner shares the risk
The Signpost for partner is the leader who earns the trust of everyone at the table fast, finds common ground, and blends people and organizations into a team that produces. The Roadblock is quieter than it sounds. You compete first. You optimize for your own team and your own goals. And you treat the people around you as a collection of individuals, not a team you are actually in.
How do you partner… and would they say the same of you?
Maureen was very different… and a great partner…
We eventually did everything together, including teaching an MBA class on Leadership. One evening, I had just finished a fantastic explanation of some leadership concept, and was quietly congratulating myself. The look on Maureen’s face was the punch line… and she very carefully “supported” what I said in a way that made it much better and clearer. One of the students said it best… “I had no idea what Mark said… but Maureen was much clearer”
That is the sign of a productive partner… they bring what you don’t, and you bring what they don’t. Spoiler alert that will bring communication challenges and other tensions that handled well, produce 3 from 1+1… In this case, the person who was not clear what I said turned out to be a woman leader. And… having Maureen… who had been through the many challenges of women’s leadership through the 70s and 80s spoke much clearer. And not just the words. The lived experience…
That is another thing about partners – you are constantly learning from each other. They see things you don’t, do things “differently”, bringing a rich tension of Creative Conflict that Lencioni talks about. If you don’t have that push back, you are likely going to jump over something important.
… who is your partner now?
Your “Simple… Not Easy” move: call 1 woman leader outside your own team this week. Ask her if she wants to partner with you on something… and define what that means for both…
Helping leaders find the partners worth spending their time with is fun like The Go-Go’s music. Schedule time with me here.
Spend your time to partner this week. You both can take the… Vacation
