BuildingPartnershipsInsideandOutside

TheOrganization
ModifiedfromPartnering:TheNewFaceofLeadership,
AMACOM,2002
By:MarshallGoldsmith
Inarecentstudy(sponsoredbyAccenture)wecompletedindepthinterviewswith202
speciallychosen,highpotentialleadersfromaroundtheworld.Theseparticipantswere
allseenasbeingattheverytopwhencomparedtocolleaguesattheirlevelintheir
organizations.Thesefutureleaderswereaskedtodescribehowtheidealleaderofthe
futurewoulddifferfromtheleaderofthepast.Theresultswereclear.Theidealleaderof
thefuturewasseenasapersonskilledatbuildingpartnershipsinsideandoutsidethe
organization.Whiletheseskillswereseenasbeingsomewhatimportantinthepast,they
wereseenasbeingcriticallyimportantforthefuture.
Muchhasbeenwrittenonhowleaderscanbuildpartnerships.Thischapterwillbuild
uponourresearchandfocusonwhytheleaderofthefuturewillneedtobeabuilderof
partnerships.Sixdifferenttypesofpartnershipswillbeexplored:threeinsidethe
organization(directreports,coworkersandmanagers)andthreeoutsidetheorganization
(customers,suppliersandcompetitors).
BUILDINGPARTNERSHIPSINSIDETHEORGANIZATION
PARTNERINGWITHDIRECTREPORTS
Thetraditionalassumptionsthathave"bonded"employeeswithorganizationsare
changingrapidly.Employeesnolongerexpectthattheirorganizationswillprovidethem
withjobsecurity.Astheexpectationofsecurityhasdiminished,sohastheblindloyalty
thatwasassumedasabyproductofthissecurity.Almostallofthehighpotentialleaders
thatweinterviewedsawthemselvesas"freeagents"not"employees"(inthetraditional
sense).Theysawtheleaderofthefutureasapersonwhocoulddevelop"winwin"
relationshipsandwhocouldbesensitivetotheirneedsforpersonalgrowthand
development.Inreturntheyfelt,notonlyadesire,butalsoaresponsibilitytodeliver
valueback,fortheleaderandtotheorganization.Insimpleterms,theysawtheleaderof
thefutureastheirpartner,nottheirboss!
AsPeterDruckerhasnotedonmanyoccasions,oneofthegreatchallengesforleadership
inthefuturewillbethemanagementofknowledgeworkers.Peterdefinesknowledge
workersarepeoplewhoknowmoreaboutwhattheyaredoingthantheirmangerdoes.
Thehighpotentialleadersweinterviewedpaintedaveryclearpicture.Themanagersof
bestknowledgeworkersofthefuturewillhavetobegoodpartners.Theywon'thavea
choice!Iftheyarenotgreatpartners,theywon'thavegreatpeople.
PARTNERINGWITHCOWORKERS
Oneofthegreatestchallengesfortheleaderofthefuturewillbebreakingdown
boundaries.Theeffectiveleaderwillbeabletosharepeople,capitalandideasacrossthe
organization.Astheworldbecomesmorecomplex,thistypeofintegrationwillbecome
moreimportant.ItiseasyfortheCEOtounderstandwhythisissoimportant.TheCEO
isrewardedbythesuccessoftheentireorganization,notjustthesuccessofanyoneunit.
TheCEOcanunderstandthatpeopleneedtobesharedsothattheycandevelopthe
expertiseandbreadthneededtomanagetheentireorganization.Capitalneedstobe
sharedsothatmaturebusinesscantransferfundstohighgrowthbusinesses.Ideasneed
tobesharedsothateveryoneintheorganizationcanlearnfrombothsuccessesand
mistakesinthemostefficientwaypossible.Thehighpotentialleadersweinterviewed
sawthemselvesaspotentialCEOsandsharedthevalueofthisperspective.Theyalsosaw
thatvalueincommunicatingthisperspectivetoalllevelsintheorganization.
WhiletheseadvantagesareeasytoseefromthevantagepointoftheCEO,theycanbe
moredifficulttoexecutefromthepositionofthelowerlevermanager.Leadersatall
levelswillneedtodevelopskillsinnegotiationandthedevelopmentof"winwin"
relationshipswithcolleagues.Theyhavetolearntosharepeople,capitalandideas.In
somecasestheymustchoosetoexperienceashorttermloss,sothattheorganizationcan
achievealongtermgain.Inthepast,manyleadershavebeentaughttocompetewith
colleaguesforpeople,resourcesandideas.Theyhavebeenrewardedfor"winning"this
competition.Inthefutureleaderswillneedtolearntocollaboratewithcolleaguesacross
theorganization.Thesuccessofthelargerorganizationwilldependuponleadersability
tobecomegreatpartnerswiththeircoworkers.Inmanycases,theparticipantsinour
researchbelievedthatdevelopingpartnershipswithcoworkerswasanevenbigger
challengeforleadersthandevelopingpartnershipswithdirectreports.
PARTNERINGWITHMANAGERS
OtherthantheCEO,everyleaderintheorganizationhasamanager.Thechangingroleof
leadershipwillmeanthattherelationshipbetweenmanagersanddirectreportswillhave
tochangeinbothdirections.Notonlywillmanagersneedtochange,directreports(who
alsomaybeleaders)willneedtochange.Manyleadersofthefuturewillbeoperating
morelikethemanagingdirectorofanofficeinaconsultingfirm,thantheoperatorofan
independentsmallbusiness.Thisistruenotonlyinthebusinesssector,butalsointhe
humanservicessector.BrianGallagher,theleaderoftheUnitedWayrecentlydescribed
hisidealfutureleadersaspartnersleadinginanetwork,notmanagersleadingina
hierarchy.
AconsultingfirmthatcouldbeabenchmarkinpartneringwithmanagersisMcKinsey.
InMcKinsey,aDirectormayhavelessdetailedknowledgeaboutaclientthanamore
juniorPrincipalorAssociate.Leadersatalllevelsaretrainedinthefollowing
philosophy."Whenyoubelievethatthedirectionyouarebeinggivenisnotinthebest
interestofourclient,youdonothavetheopportunitytochallenge,youdonothavethe
righttochallenge,youhavetheobligationtochallenge."Thisphilosophyteachesleaders
atalllevelstohaveveryadultandresponsiblerelationshipswiththeirmanagers.It
encouragesemployeesatalllevelstostatetheiropinion,totakeresponsibility andto
avoid"blamingothers"fordecisions.Thisphilosophycreatesanenvironmentof
partnership,notdependence.
Ourhighpotentialparticipantssawtheleadersofthefutureasworkingwiththeir
managersinateamapproachthatcombinedtheleader'sknowledgeoftheunitoperation
withtheirmanagersunderstandingofthelargerneedsoftheorganization.Sucha
relationshiprequirestakingresponsibility,sharinginformationandstrivingtoseeboth
themicroandmacroperspective.Whilepartneringwithmanagementcanbealotmore
complexthan"takingorders",itisbecomingarequirement,notanoption.Whendirect
reportsknowmorethantheirmanagers,theyhavetolearnhowtoinfluence"up"aswell
as"down"and"across".
BUILDINGPARTNERSHIPSOUTSIDETHEORGANIZATION
PARTNERINGWITHCUSTOMERS
Ascompanieshavebecomelargerandmoreglobal,therehasbeenashiftfrombuying
standaloneproductstobuyingintegratedsolutions.Onereasonforthisshiftiseconomy
ofscale.Hugeretailcorporations,likeHomeDepotorWalMart,donotwanttodeal
withthousandsofvendors.Theywouldprefertoworkwithfewervendorswhocan
delivernotonlyproducts,butsystemsfordeliverythatarecustomizedtomeettheir
needs.Asecondreasonistheconvergenceoftechnology.Manycustomersnowwant
"networksolutions"notjusthardwareandsoftware.
Asthesupplier'srelationshipwiththeircustomerscontinuestochange,leadersfrom
supplyorganizationswillneedtobecomemorelikepartnersandlesslikesalespeople.
Onetrendthatourhighpotentialparticipantsnoticedistheshifttowardbuildinglong
termcustomerrelationships,notjustachievingshorttermsales.Thischangemeansthat
suppliersneedtodevelopamuchdeeperunderstandingofthecustomerstotalbusiness.
Theywillneedtobewillingtolookatthe"bigpicture"intermsofdeliveryand
reliability.Theywillneedtomakemanysmallsacrificestoachievealargegain.Inshort,
theywillneedtoactlikepartners.
PARTNERINGWITHSUPPLIERS
Astheshifttowardintegratedsolutionsadvances,leaderswillhavetochangetheir
relationshipwithsuppliers.AgreatexampleisIBM.AgrowingpercentageofIBM's
business,nowinvolvescustomizedsolutionsincorporatingnonIBMproductsand
services.WhiletheideaofIBMsellingnonIBMproductswasalmostunheardofinthe
past,itisnowbecomingcommonplacetothebenefitofcustomersand,inthelongrun
toIBMitself.Thesametrendisoccurringinthepharmaceuticalandtelecommunications
world.
Inaworldwhereacompanysoldstandaloneproducts,partneringwithsupplierswasnot
onlyseenasunnecessary,itmayhavebeenviewedasunethical!Thecompany'sjobwas
to"getthesupplierdown"tothelowestpossiblepricetoincreasemarginsand
profitability.Leaderswhopartneredwithsuppliersmaywellhavebeenviewedas
"helpingtheenemy"orhavinga"conflictofinterest".Todaymanyleadersrealizethat
theirsuccessisdirectlyrelatedtotheirsupplier'ssuccess.Infact,Northrop Grumman,
oneofAmerica'sleadingdefensecontractors,actuallyincludescommitmenttosuppliers
asoneoftheircorevalues.
Thehighpotentialleadersthatweinterviewedsawsuppliersaskeypartners.They
realizedthattheleadersofthefuturewouldbeabletotranscenddifferencesandfocuson
acommongood servingtheultimateenduseroftheproductorservice.
PARTNERINGWITHCOMPETITORS
Themostradicalchangeintheroleofleaderaspartnerhascomeintheareaofpartnering
withcompetitors. Thishasmovedfromtheunthinkabletothecommonplace.Mostofthe
highpotentialleadersthatweinterviewedsawcompetitorsaspotentialcustomers,
suppliersandpartners.Fewhadclearlinesofdemarcation.Whiletherearestillsome
notedexceptionstothistrend(e.g.CocaColaandPepsi),thedirectionofthecurveis
veryclear.Mostorganizationsthatrelyonknowledgeworkershavevariedandcomplex
relationshipswithcompetitors.
Whentoday'scompetitorsmaybecometomorrow'scustomers,thedefinitionof
"winning"changes.Peoplehavememories.Unfairly"bashing"competitorsorstrivingto
ruintheirbusinesscouldhaveharshlongtermconsequences.Whilecompetitorsshould
notexpectcollusionorunfairpractices,theyshouldexpectintegrityandfairdealing.
Inreadingthischapter,itshouldstarttobecomeobviousthatthesixtrendstowardmore
partneringarereinforcingeachother.Forexample,asemployeesfeellessjobsecurity,
theybegintoseesuppliers,customersandcompetitorsaspotentialemployers.Thefact
theleadersneedtolearnmoreabouttheseotherorganizations,buildlongterm
relationshipsanddevelop"winwin"partnershipsmeansthattheotherorganizationsare
evenmorelikelytohiretheleaders.Inmanycasesthisisseenasapositive,nota
negativebybothorganizations.Asthetrendtowardoutsourcingincreasesitbecomes
increasinglydifficulttodeterminewhoisacustomer,supplier,directreport,manageror
partner.
Almosteveryhighpotentialleaderweinterviewedbelievedthattheleaderofthefuture
wouldneedtobefarmoreskilledthantheleaderofthepast.Inmanywaysthe"old
world"wassimpler.Tellingdirectreports(whoknowlessthanwedo)whattodoisalot
simplerthandevelopingrelationshipswithpartners(whoknowmorethanwedo).Being
abletoworkina"silo"isalotsimplerthanhavingtobuildpartnershipswithpeersacross
theorganization."Takingorders"frommanagersisalotsimplerthanhavingtochallenge
ideasthatarenotgoingtomeetcustomerneeds.Sellingaproducttocustomersisalot
simplerthanprovidinganintegratedsolution.Gettingthelowestpricefromsuppliersisa
lotsimplerthanunderstandingtheircomplexbusinessneeds.Competingwith
competitorsisalotsimplerthanhavingtodevelopacomplexcustomersupplier
competitorrelationship.
Thechallengeofleadershipisgrowing.Thehighpotentialleadersthatwestudied
believedthatmanyoftheimportantqualitiesofthepast,likeintegrity,vision,andself
confidencewerestillgoingtoberequiredinthefuture.Theyalsosawthatbuilding
partnershipsinsideandoutsidetheorganizationisgoingtobecomeoneofthemost
importantskillsfortheleaderofthefuture.