How Can I Help? V2.0

Finding your ideal business partner. There are so many aspects to that! Working life in this crazy era means that it’s not simple to get what you want done – done. So nowadays what used to be a straightforward process is now a critical business decision of life and death.

At the top of the list (to avoid going nuts on the journey) has to come total belief and trust in the partner/guide you are gonna need. Not as easy as it sounds.

If I was asked to choose the perfect partner to help me solve any given challenge there would be some pretty non-negotiable aspects to their make up. These may not be your typical criteria but this is what we know works. They are in no order and you may have your drop-dead priority one and add if you can.

1. They don’t have a clock. If they are on your case then that’s it. Let’s get it done.
2. They aren’t in your face but they’re in your corner. They don’t need to keep telling you how brilliantly they are doing – they are just doing. For you.
3. They know their onions. And there are all kinds of onions. When you are in a fix knowing only one onion isn’t going to help when it’s 16 types you need.
4. A fabulously good bearer of bad news. So much so that you like it. Most bad news is an opportunity anyway so bringing it along with a fix is probably your best news all day.
5. They understand you and don’t want to create a fuss about your thing. Knowing you as well as they do they admire what you’ve done and want to add to it – not try to make it theirs.
6. They make you think. But really think. You don’t need to be put in a safe room and made to feel all soft and warm, you need some disruption of a positive nature.
7. They know what respect is and it’s a two way street. There’s more than a feeling that this is a job – it’s way more than the sum of its parts.
8. There is a recognition that not everyone is doing just their own ‘one-thing’. Different dimensions are being worked – each part carrying it’s own weight and contribution and valued for that.
9. It’s never just about the money. That’s not the driver. Great partners deliver – whatever the financial deal.
10. They know when to leave you alone. Really!
11. And there is humor. It’s not about cracking gags but it has to be all done with a good heart. Not always serious and not always trivialized – there’s a human quality to everything at all times.

And beyond business!