Partnership

Learn what powerful partnerships are based on -- when people know how their strengths work together and their expectations are aligned -- and their benefits.

You know your workplace partnership is truly unselfish if you feel genuine satisfaction at each other's success, if you and your partner will risk a lot for each other, and if your collaborator is "like a brother or sister" to you.

Most collaborators, even many of the best, do not realize the role communication plays in creating a powerful partnership. Every time two counterparts talk, their relationship is altered. What goes on beneath the surface is more important than the information exchanged.

In a good collaboration, partners make statements like "two heads are better than one." In a bad one, they make comments such as "I'd have been better off working by myself" or "I wish I'd never even met him." Here's how collaborators can forgive and (hopefully) forget.

In effective partnerships, collaborators focus on each other's strengths, not weaknesses; accept each other as they are; and are understanding of one another's mistakes. This is all easier said than done, of course, note the authors of the new book Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life.

In a good collaboration, 58% of partners strongly agree that they trust each other. Trust is indeed essential in partnerships, as every partner needs to be able to depend on his counterpart for the collaboration to achieve excellence, say the authors of Power of 2.

Your partnership won't succeed unless both of you believe it is fair, say the authors of the new book Power of 2. Even if you have no formal authority over the pay, promotion, or recognition of your collaborator, you should make sure he feels good about the arrangement.

Although a shared mission is essential, maybe even obvious, the lack of this basic concurrence is where many pairs fail. Only one in four people in poor partnerships agree they have a common goal or purpose with the other person, write the authors of Power of 2.

You are built for collaborating and for forming productive and meaningful partnerships. You actually acquired this trait from your ancestors. But chances are, you're not making the most of your many opportunities to partner more effectively at work.

So Barack Obama chose Joe Biden as his VP nominee, and John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Big deal. Why should executives care? Well, studying these tickets (and others) reveals many do's and don'ts for your own business partnerships.

Does adopting a strengths-based approach mean you can ignore your weaknesses? No, says an expert in strengths management. He explains why in this, the first of several articles that will debunk commonly accepted myths about people's talents and strengths and how they are applied at work and in life.

No one said forging a productive, cooperative relationship with unionized workers is easy. But smart, forward-thinking executives are doing it. This is particularly true in call centers, where managers are overcoming problems like poor attendance and waning morale to build lasting, and profitable, partnerships. Those managers and union leaders offer tips for creating a win-win scenario.

Conflict is an unavoidable part of business. But it doesn't have to be too daunting. Here's how to leverage your innate talents to handle inevitable confrontations and arguments.

Why does it matter when a boss takes a personal interest in his employees? Just ask the people at a Qwest call center who once faced an uncertain future and, inspired by a great manager, turned it into the biggest and best site in the company.

In sports it's often called chemistry: that blend of talent that makes a team able to accomplish the impossible. It's a balance that all managers want, whether they're coaching a baseball team, or leading a business initiative. Here are some strengths-based strategies for putting together a team that's more than the sum of its parts.

Marketing today is increasingly about "relationships." Repeat business is now recognized as the avenue to enhanced profit performance, and the prerequisite for a sustainable future. The goal: building an enduring and leverageable bond between the company and its customers. The need: creating this bond efficiently, as well as effectively.