When I review my proudest achievements, both in business and in the nonprofit sector, collaboration with partners was almost always part of a successful outcome.
A lot of senior executives talk about collaboration, but are just paying lip service to the concept. If you want to grow an organization and build significant value, you must develop the ability to collaborate.
Collaboration is not about scheduling a lot of meetings or forcing people to physically interact more often. To be a successful collaborator, you need to be willing to put your partners’ needs ahead of your own.
Collaboration is never easy, but there are many practical benefits in working together to achieve ambitious goals.
Next week I’ll look at some principles that can help make your collaborative efforts a success.
- Has your organization embraced a culture of collaboration?
- Identify an upcoming opportunity where you could collaborate with others toward a new goal.