The saying goes, “If you want to walk faster, go alone. If you want to walk farther, go together.”
I read a lot of tweets and blogs from individuals that are certainly on the fast track -trying to make a name and a reputation quickly – and alone. I wonder how many of those enthusiastic entrepreneurs will perhaps have a short stretch of fame and glory and then disappear? They tend to be so self-absorbed and narrowly focused that they don’t understand the power or longevity gained from collaborating with others.
Even though we see more examples of collaboration among non-profit organizations, many for profit entities have seen the light as well. For example, several wealth management companies, law firms, and accounting groups (of varying sizes) recently created a partnership to honor the female president and CEO of a communications company in Philadelphia. The result? Not only did they generate good will and publicity for themselves and the honoree, but they also raised more than $60,000 for an educational foundation. Additional benefits included building loyalty among their current constituents, tangibly demonstrating their concern for their communities, and impressing a slew of potential clients!
By working with others to build your business, not only do you share the workload, but you also broaden the learning, the impact, and the risk. If you truly want to succeed, you need to learn to work — and have fun — with others. Sharing information, contacts and expertise (as appropriate) and all of the above in a working relationship builds foundations of trust and mutual caring. Those foundations just naturally carry over to maintaining strong, long term relationships with customers and clients.
