Be the Best Partner You Can Be
Be the Best Partner You Can Be
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far – go together.
I once asked a high-performing leader what guiding principles she followed to excel in her role. She told me:
“Be the best partner you can be”
This piece of advice has resonated with me ever since, and through conversations with top performers from a variety of industries, I've found that collaboration, humility, and deep empathy are key standout traits.
In the realm of product, marketing, strategy, operations, and other generalist business roles, these traits are critical for effective collaboration.
Be the best partner you can be
Let’s break it down. What does being a good partner mean?
You strive to provide value first. This means having the empathy to deeply understand and address the goals and challenges of the partners you work with.
You emphasize shared values and focus on aligning goals to create impact. Once you’ve evaluated individual goals, you make the effort to understand how you can collectively problems and create impact.
You’re coachable and humble. You understand that everyone brings value to the table. And you possess the self-awareness and humility to ask for genuine feedback
You over-communicate when necessary. Both in verbal and written contexts. We tend to under-estimate the impact of written formats (docs, emails, posts), especially in a hybrid, remote-world.
You are reliable and accountable. You hold true to your word, keep your promises, and set expectations accordingly.
You express gratitude. It’s clear that you’re genuinely grateful for the support of your partners.
Through being an effective partner and collaborator, you can expect to build productive, long-term relationships with those you work with.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
… and I should add: you should always seek to go far.