When it comes to decision-making, critical planning or ultimately paying for a product or service, we are living in the age of partnerships.
Partnerships represent the pinnacle of leadership and collaboration in today’s society -they are challenging, rewarding and effective forms of decision making available to us.
If you’ve been in forced conversations and experienced uncomfortable handshakes with total strangers at a conference or an event, you’re not alone.
Building networks is more than just swapping business cards or adding another connection on LinkedIn. It’s the way business gets done in our complex and interconnected community where establishing and sustaining a wide variety of relationships is a key element of effective leadership and business development.
Your community partnerships can be as varied and diverse as location and revolve around the issues you’re attempting to tackle. In a nutshell, a community partnership is a collaborative relationship between willing people, which is formed to address long term shared objectives. It’s a relationship that will be long lasting.
Hence the phrase “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Leveraging my networks was a natural choice when I re-launched my consultancy, Mayvin Global. New opportunities and challenges faced by a new brand made it clear that connecting with others, who were aligned with my values, was critical to my success.
There are three types of networks:
operational networks such as suppliers, distributors and customers
personal networks who can offer support such as coaching and mentoring
strategic networks who provide opportunities to look at the bigger picture by giving a different perspective on your organisation.
My network has presented me with many wonderful opportunities such as sponsorship, new and exciting cultural projects, speaking and teaching opportunities. Opportunities are as abundant as your network, if you choose to leverage them.
How are you leveraging the value of your community partnerships across your network?