It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
PARTNERSHIP.
We're having a conversation about the questions and themes that move around the launch or the growth of an organization. We've talked about RISK, FAILURE, COLLABORATION, and the first mention was around STARTING.
Today I want to talk about the value of PARTNERSHIP.
Gina and I were a part of starting a ministry years ago in Ecuador called Extreme Response International. We came alongside our friends and "partners", Jerry and Dawn Carnill, and Extreme Response was born.
In the book Building Strategic Relationships by Daniel Rickett, a partnership is defined as: "a complimentary relationship driven by a common purpose and sustained by a willingness to learn and grow together in obedience to God."
This was what our partnership was with the Carnills in that we were driven by a "common purpose" but we had completely different roles in helping our small vision and organization grow into what it is today. We also needed other partners to join us along the way to help us move forward.
Let me tell you about 2 kinds of partnership that are critical to every organization:
First, is INTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS. This involves inviting people to be a part of your team, and they are working alongside of you to move the vision and purpose forward. We'll talk more about this aspect when we talk about TEAM next week, but let me just add that launching something on your own is lonely work. When you have a couple of people to share the work, the worry, the load, the tasks and the success, it not only lightens the load, but it will bring you joy! Working side-by-side with the "right people" is an incredible thing. This is what we found in the early days of Extreme Response... we all had a role, we all worked together to see it happen, and we celebrated the work and the relationships. These were really sweet days!
Second is EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS. This involves identifying people or organizations that you can strategically partner with to help both of the visions and missions to move forward. Another definition of partnership is simply this: "A formal arrangement by two or more parties to manage and operate a business and share it's profits." Profits can be defined as financial, service culture, impact, missional metrics or many other things. There are many ways to celebrate profits besides finances.
In the book, "Working Together" Michael Eisner & Aaron Cohen comment, "Partnerships between the right pair of people can be hugely beneficial - some of us just work better when we collaborate with someone else. A good partnership won't just bring your company greater success, it can make you much happier too. After all, humans are social creatures."
However, as you define partnerships, it's important to ask the right questions before formalizing anything. Here are some questions to think through:
1) Do you have SHARED VALUES? Do each of you value the same thing? Does your purpose and passion align?
2) Do you TRUST each other? Do you have any history of collaboration? Have you nurtured your relationship in other ways?
3) Are you TRANSPARENT and VULNERABLE? Are you able to communicate at a deeper level of honesty and truth?
4) Have you spent TIME TOGETHER? Every relationship takes time.
5) What can you OFFER to each other? What benefit will come from this partnership? What is the potential result of you coming together?
These are really important questions. Don't dive into partnership until you are able to take the time to build and nurture a healthy relationship and until you can answer and work through these questions, and probably many more.
Partnerships can be mutually beneficial, and they can exponentially multiply your impact and results.
Build Good Partnerships!
Share with me some of your stories of GREAT PARTNERSHIPS and some PARTNERSHIP LESSONS you learned from mistakes made. SEND HERE
"Our success has really been based on partnerships from the very beginning." Bill Gates, Microsoft
"Friendship is essentially a partnership." Aristotle
"Great partnerships thrive because the people need each other." Courtney A Kemp
Dick shared this note from last weeks post on RISK: "Great article,Russ. I find Christians to be more risk-averse than others especially in areas like entrepreneurship and venture capital. Those that follow your model are changing the world...those that avoid risk like its a sin, feel safer but often have missed opportunity and muted influence..."
Pete shared this note on RISK: "I found that risk is something that needs to be practiced. I've learned so much about risk by rock climbing. The more I practiced and learned the more I was able to learn what the risks really were. What were irrational fears and what were real fears I needed to listen to. Learning to risk with God at the center was an amazing experience. Thanks for all the work you put into these."
Things I'm Reading, Listening To, an Watching This Week:
I talked about Extreme Response International earlier in this post. Check out our website, and watch this short video entitled "The Source of our Passion" with our friend, Char Beck.
Building Strategic Relationships is a great book about Biblical Partnerships.
One of my all-time favorite albums: Bruce Hornsby and the Range and The Way It Is. I enjoyed listening to this album this week on a drive down the Southern California Coast!
After a trip to the chiropractor with a shoulder injury, he got me working on these Exercise Bands. 2 weeks later, almost zero shoulder pain! Another sign that I'm getting old!