How to Create a Powerful Partnership

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One of the best ways to grow yourself and your business is to create lasting partnerships that are mutually beneficial to both parties.  If you look throughout the business world, you will see example after example of partnerships that created massive successes such as Microsoft and IBM,  Credit Card Companies and Banks, Uber and Spotify, Apple and Cell Service Providers - the list goes on and on.

I'm been fortunate to help create and be a part of very successful and lasting partnerships.  Here's what I've learned over the years.

Some of the Best Partnerships Are Ones You Are Not Looking For

As an entrepreneur or business leader, you should always be open to opportunity and on the look out.  You never know where the next big success is going to come from.  Over the years, I have found opportunity with partners in the most unlikely of places.  For example, the Grow Thrive Revive bi-annual retreat was created when after interviewing a guest on Misfit, global entrepreneur Evan Money, we had a some time left over and got to chatting about the business and personal growth event landscape. 

We found that we had very similar thoughts on the state of things and how we could create an event that would not only deliver much more, but create an experience around unlike any other.  I was was not looking for a partner to do an event, but I was open to receiving opportunity, and when Evan's passion showed through at the same level as mine, I knew we had to bring the event to life.

Always be open to opportunity and give it a chance.

Most Partnerships Go Nowhere Because They Lack Commitment and Action!

You see this in the corporate world all of the time.  Two companies come out, announce a "game-changing" partnership, do a press release, get some headlines, and then you never hear about it again.  This happens because once the excitement and spotlight is over, the work has to begin.  And for most, they never do the work and take the action needed to make the partnership a success.  

Good partnerships are work.  Hard work.  They are like starting a new business.  You will have to get two groups/cultures to work together and overcome challenges.  You will have disagreements, setbacks, and even feel like quitting.  But to make it work, you will have to be disciplined, consistent, and persevere. 

In order to succeed in any partnership, you will need to commit to it and take the action you know it will require to succeed.

Great Partnerships are Ones in Which Everyone Wins

This may seen like common sense, but it is not.  To create a partnership in which everyone truly wins is not easy.  It takes compromise and sacrifice.  It means having to get past the business side of things and realize that you truly care about the people in the partnership as individuals and want to see them succeed as much as you want your own success.  It means thinking about them and not yourself (which is becoming harder for people to do in today's world).  But, if you can accomplish a true win-win - not only will the partnership be a success, but the results from it will be even better.

Great partnerships are like family.  You are devoted to them and willing to be by their side through whatever comes up, but they also challenge you, sometimes aggravate you, and give you both great joy and grief.  But, at the end of the day, you truly care for them and for their well-being and want to see them succeed.  If you approach partnerships in this way and find and create the win-win, you'll be amazed the success you will have.