Among the things in life that just make our souls feel toasty and our faces light up, forming new and great partnerships has got to be near the top of that list. To let you in on a little bit of the “behind the scenes” magic here at The Performance Pursuit, we have weekly meetings where we come together (or Skype together!) with one of our main focuses being to share with one another new leads, new ideas, and new potential partnerships. Some weeks we have more to share than others, but whenever a new potential partnership surfaces it is like one of us just announced that we won the PowerBall – THAT is how stoked we get for new partnerships, guys.
I’ve been thinking about this and our genuine joy in making these connections and wondering how I can relate it to my personal, everyday life, and I felt obligated to share my thought process with you all. I decided I needed to nail down the specific make-up of a successful partnership. I set out to find what the key ingredients are. From there, I simply related it back to characteristics that I (and you) should be looking for in social connections. There was one that stood out: the notion of being mutually beneficial to both parties/persons involved in the partnership. This aspect led me to one overarching theme in both business relationships and personal ones – trust. Let me break it down…
Partnerships, friendships, relationships, etc. (to make things easier I will use, and probably overuse, the term ‘ship to indicate any/all of these potential social connections), should benefit both parties involved. HOWEVER, when I first thought about this I did so in terms of “what does [insert other party] have to offer” – I wanted to find out what I was getting from them! Realistic? Maybe. Selfish? Definitely! When I realized this it was like a lightbulb, followed by a sure sense of guilt. That’s not how we form partnerships as a company, so why would I go about forming social ‘ships that way? Needless to say, this is one huge takeaway that I want to fully embrace, and so should you. When seeking successful ‘ships, consider first what YOU have to bring to the table. How will you fulfill your end of these “mutual benefits”? My experience is that healthy ‘ships exist when one is more concerned about what they have to offer and how they can better contribute to the relationship, rather than monitoring the second party to ensure that they are pulling their weight as well. Which brings me to the second, and farther-reaching, concept that is essential to any successful ‘ship: TRUST.
When one party begins to question the other’s investment in the ‘ship rather than focusing on their own, that’s an immediate indication of a lack of trust. Sometimes we have reasons for not trusting that person/party, and sometimes we think we have reasons when really we are projecting fears and emotions from a past ‘ship, that may not have ended well, onto a current one. Be honest with yourself and what the true source of your hesitation is. If it turns out to be valid, you may want to re-evaluate your desire to continue this specific ‘ship. If NOT, you may need to take a step back and refocus on you, your end of the bargain, and making sure that you are giving everything you’ve got to make this work.
To summarize: 1) Make sure all of your ‘ships are mutually beneficial – specifically by examining your part in the deal and that you are living up to it. 2) Trust that the second party is doing the same. Don’t question their effort, and don’t make them question yours.
In the spirit of sharing this excitement about partnerships, we thought it would be fun to introduce to you one of our newest partners – Chicago City Soccer Club. This organization has been nothing but respectful, invested, and eager to continue rounding out the holism of what they bring to their members. We are so excited to maintain this relationship and see where it can go! Huge thanks to Nick Mulvaney and the rest of the staff at CCSC for your interest and willingness to start this adventure. We are absolutely stoked to bring you all of the enthusiasm, commitment, and quality of service that we can muster.
You can check out CCSC at their website listed below, and they are all over social media as well. Now go, enter into new ‘ships (and adjust accordingly any existing ones), and see if you get the same burst of joy that WE get when we make new connections and new partnerships!
Website - http://www.chicagocitysoccerclub.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Chicago-City-Soccer-Club-185381694822914/
Twitter - @ccsc_city
Instagram - @ccsc_gocity
