As I look back over 2018, I find myself thinking of the people I’ve met and done business with this year. All in all, the experience shakes out a very positive. Since it involved people, I can’t say it was perfect, but I will do my best to make 2019 more of the same. Those that have engaged Growth Dynamics to help them grow or at least change brought as much to me as I believe I brought to them. And as a result of that exchange we are all better for the time spent with each other.
Taking things to the level of true partnership requires more; more trust, more openness, more tolerance and more faith. You all can add to that list whatever else you believe true partnerships demand and I won’t disagree with you. Your experiences and beliefs are as valid as mine when you think about those relationships that have entered the rarefied air of true partnerships. Sometimes we get to that point intentionally, while in other situations we get there and don’t realize it has happened until you are already there. It doesn’t matter, but to really make it happen there is one belief that I have learned to be the foundation of all true, lasting relationships. Over the years I have asked most of my clients to define what makes a true partner and in every instance the list that I shared above has been in the replies I’ve gotten. That list is good, but it misses the key component that defines a true partnership fully realized.
It is easy to say a partner trusts you, is open with you, is more tolerant of you, but you need more than those things. When you come to realize you have formed a true partnership you understand that there is a greater level of trust and belief in that other person, and it gives you sense of security and appreciation for the bond you have formed. It is more rare than it should be in today’s world. My gut tells me we are all woefully short of these relationships, and my goal for the coming year is to create or at least look for opportunities to create more of them.
Here is the missing ingredient; a true partnership is when you believe the other person will always do what is best for you even if it is not best for him or her. That last phrase is the key that most partnerships lack; even if it is not best for him or her. When you operate in that manner you create a sense of trust that embraces difference without fear, losing without worry of loss and trust without condition.
That’s my gyroscope for navigating through the next year, and frankly the entire future.
