We recently partnered with a PR firm in another part of the country to work together on a new (national) piece of business. The smoothness with which we do this now (as a result of having become comfortable with this model over the course of several years) reminds me of the key elements that must be in place for business partnerships to work:
1. Openness about everything you do and how you do it. You can’t withhold critical information or be overly concerned about your company’s “proprietary” ways of doing things.
2. Lack of greed. Hopefully, there is enough to go around for everyone, and you don’t have to feel greedy about getting your share of the pie (or the money).
3. The ability to admit that you don’t know everything. And besides, how fun to be able to keep learning from our peers in other firms.
4. A true win-win mentality. This means being able to give a little when it is in the best interest of the client.
5. Leave your ego at the door. People who are more concerned about garnering personal attention or always getting the credit don’t make good partners.
The up side is that partnering frequently allows you to stretch further than you could on your own and can open up interesting and lucrative new opportunities that you could not pursue by yourself.
