Corner Office
Arcus talks with top executives about successful partnerships.
Arcus asked 2100 CEOs about the most important lessons they have learned about successful partnerships.
The most important leadership lesson CEOs have learned is to force themselves to think about doing things that they did not think were possible. |
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| Contact Arcus for a presentation on best practices in innovation. |
The most important leadership lesson
If you already know the path to the goal, "it's probably not ambitious or aspirational enough," says Shantanu Narayen, president and C.E.O. of Adobe Systems, the software maker in a recent interview. Challenging individuals by setting goals and then letting them use their ingenuity to accomplish them is something good leaders hope to pass on as part of their leadership style. CEOs want to set a common vision and then engage really smart people. They say when these steps are implemented, amazing things can happen. The other aspect of being a good manager has always been getting gratification from what others do, because the higher you get in management, CEOs say, the less you do yourself. Read more
Five pillars of effective partnerships
An effective partnership must have five pillars:
- Trust and common vision
- Strong leadership and clear roles
- Management standards
- Meaningful relationships
- Continuous communication
Our research indicates that two dramatic shifts have occurred since the recession began- a severe erosion of trust and a heightened sense of insecurity among small-medium business leaders. The Arcus Trust Index has measured 35 influencers of attitudes of high net worth individuals since 2001. The trust index has dropped 20 percent in the past two years to 41%, indicating an erosion of trust in public institutions, the corporate sector and other external entities in general.
In assessing a potential partner, look at it from their perspective:
- What is their contribution to the partnership?
- What drives their interest and commitment?
- How important is the partnership to them?
- What benefits do they gain from their involvement?
- What are the costs and risks to them of this involvement?
Benefits of partnerships
Partnerships bring considerable benefits:
- New insights/perspectives
- Cost reduction and increased resource base
- Increased credibility
- Spreading of risk
- Better delivery of outputs
- Increased visibility among clients
Ten questions to ask to prevent common pitfalls:
- Can they confidently outline their objectives for the partnership?
- Do they have similar business cultures, values, and ethics that you do?
- Do you have a commitment to the partnership from their entire leadership team?
- Are they enthusiastic about building a mutually beneficial relationship?
- Do they have a champion dedicated to working with you?
- Have they set aside a budget for partnering activities and programs?
- What is their approach to developing business together?
- Are they comfortable sharing information about their client base?
- Do they prefer written or verbal partner agreements?
- Do they have an exit plan in case the relationship doesn’t go as planned?
