Inspiration

Who Is Your Partner?

An easy way to improve your life

How do you view others? Do you see them as lesser than or more than yourself? Are you aware that how you view others affects how you deal with them and how they deal with you? Let’s look at a different, simple, and effective way to see others that will benefit you and them.

Partnering

Partnering is integral to every life on earth, dating back to the garden with Adam and Eve. Even business entities and other organizations partner, in effect, with their employees, suppliers, customers, and, at times, with their competition.

The definition of a partner for our purposes is someone who contributes to and gains from another.

Why would you want to partner with someone? For your and their benefit naturally! You can significantly increase your results when you have a partner at your side.

For example, your view of the company you work for can dramatically affect the results you create, your potential, and your satisfaction with what you do. All it takes is a shift in your mindset/attitude to make a huge difference in the results of your life.

The attitude of a partner

Whether you are or are not a legal partner in a company, why not develop the attitude of one? As mentioned, partners contribute to and gain from one another. An employee can be seen as less than someone else, whereas someone with the attitude of a partner is there to ensure success.

Do you see the difference between employees and partners working for the same company? Employees may or may not invest in their work. A partner usually invests fully to help the company achieve its goals.

Let’s apply the same “partner” attitude to a relationship. The most natural relationship to discuss is with your life partner, your spouse. This attitude can apply to any other relationship in your life as well.

If you and your spouse are in a true partnership, not just legally but also attitude-wise, you will view one another differently. Three ways you can view another person are as:

• less or worse than you
• more or better than you
• on your level as a partner

When you view them as a true partner, you want what is best for them, and they usually reciprocate. The partnership goes out the window when you view them as better or worse than you. Are you and your spouse in a true partnership?

What does a partner contribute?

A true partner naturally does what they can to benefit the partnership. What is good for you is good for them, and vice versa. The partnership can be for achieving a single result or many, short or long-term, as needed. You may have completely different responsibilities, talents, skills, and so forth, but what each of you does adds to the overall outcome of the relationship.

In other words, you are not necessarily responsible for doing identical functions in a true partnership. Each of you is, however, responsible for providing complementary functions for the good of the partnership. The bottom line is the partnership is about creating good outcomes for the business or relationship.

While all this talk about partnering sounds good, how can you use it to your advantage?

Partnership opportunities

You can take on the attitude of a partner with anyone or anything you choose. A great place to start is where you spend much of your time — at your job. You may work for a large or small company or yourself (meaning you work for your customers). Treating others as partners with any of these will strengthen the relationship, leading to better results.

The great thing about developing the attitude of a partner is it can apply practically anywhere in virtually any situation. You can use the attitude in everything you do and in every part of a business, internally and externally. You can achieve far more by partnering with colleagues, employees, and bosses. And you will enhance your results by partnering with customers, vendors, and communities.

As it applies to business, can you think of anyone better to partner with than a customer? They are the lifeblood of every business, and the advantages of partnering with them are many. Instead of seeing selling as us versus them versus the competition, a partner takes on an entirely different approach. When the customer sees you and your company as partners, you win more than their trust and respect. You also earn their business in a way few competitors can match unless they employ the same strategy.

The same is true for that important person in your life, your spouse. Can you imagine a stronger relationship than one in which you perceive each other as true life partners? Where you fully engage in life together, wanting only good for each other? Knowing you can always count on the other to do what is right in any situation. You have deep respect for one another and a commitment that will always remain solid. Is that not what true love is? What could be better than that?

The benefits of a partnering attitude

Without question, you are stronger with a partner than you could ever be without one. This applies to your relationships, job, and everywhere else. As noted in scripture 3,000 years ago:

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Eccl. 4:12 NIV

Business partnerships are relatively common, yet employees with a partner mindset or attitude are not as plentiful. When you develop the attitude of a partner, you will, without question, strengthen your results over time.

“Partnership is not a posture but a process — a continuous process that grows stronger each year as we devote ourselves to common tasks.” John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)

And let’s not forget our many friends. Could there be any greater partner than a true friend?

“Friendship is essentially a partnership.” Aristotle (384–322 BC)

A few of the many benefits of developing the attitude of a true partner (individual or company) include:

• Leveraging talent, expertise, skills, and resources
• Faster growth
• Improved status
• More support
• Increased morale
• Enhanced productivity with better outcomes
• Greater creativity
• Improved work-life balance
• Broader perspectives

What others can you add to this list?

Final thoughts

Why not adopt the attitude of being a partner at work and in every relationship you value? Just imagine the results you will see from doing so!

Remember, when you use your newfound partner attitude, you and the partner benefit greatly. Where can you begin utilizing the partner mindset today?

I leave you with some wisdom of a great American philanthropist. In place of “employers and employees,” you could easily insert “husband and wife” with equal results!

“I have long been profoundly convinced that in the very nature of things, employers and employees are partners, not enemies;

that their interests are common, not opposed;

that in the long run the success of each is dependent upon the success of the other.” John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874–1960)

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Bill Abbate Leadership Writer and Editor in ILLUMINATION

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