Collaboration is an amazing, exciting thing that can create something that is exponentially larger than the sum of its parts so to speak.
It's a great way to cross promote.
It's a great way to extend your offerings to your "peeps" (your list, your customers, your colleagues, even your friends and family).
It's a great way to increase your value to your "peeps".
It's a great way to learn about other businesses that are in alignment with yours to promote future referrals.
It's a great way to get new eyes on your business.
All these things are great and why collaboration can be an amazing tool.
That being said, you want to ensure that the project, or the partner business is in alignment with your business, your current direction and your underlying mission. You also want to ensure that the partners you are collaborating with do business in a similar fashion to the way you do business. You have to be an advocate not only for your business visibility and branding, but most importantly, an advocate for your customers.
A large part of collaboration is cross promotion, and if you are going to open your precious database and invite your customers to experience something, you want to do your best to ensure it will be a good experience for your customers, and one that is in alignment with the type of experience they receive from you.
If you are a very nurturing, high touch, deep relationship building kind of business professional (as I strongly suspect you are if you are reading this right now) then it is not going to be a right fit to partner with a very straight up hard sales type, even if the product they sell is something that your people would be super keen to purchase.
There are many other examples I could site, but I'm sure you get the idea.
Collaboration can be amazing and create something entirely new and fantastic, for you, the partner, and all of your "peeps". But take care, because it can also reflect someone else's business model and practices on you so choose wisely friends!
Everyone has an agenda, it's naive to think that they don't, and you should, too. You're not in business to be giving everything away. But like any other relationship, you want to be partnering with someone who cares as much about how the relationship benefits you as they do about how the relationship benefits them.
Finally, when you do choose to collaborate, think of it like those group projects in school. You never want to be the guy everyone else thinks is a slacker in the group. Do your share, and most importantly share your brilliance. Sometimes the project originator has an idea, and only through the added insight and brainstorming of a team does it reach its full potential.
I've written before about pruning as a necessary process for growth.
I was deadheading my rose bushes a week or two back and for some reason it caused me to think about it from a slightly different perspective.
When we come up with our next great idea or thing or just hit our next stage of greatness, we essentially bloom. Each time, we allow ourselves to think that this is the "end" in a sort. We feel accomplished.
I'm no green thumb, so I apologize if I explain this wrong, but how I understand it is that basically when flower withers and dies on a plant, the plant really has no idea that the flower is no longer blooming. It continues to send nutrients and energy to that bloom, essentially starving the rest of the plant. It is when we trim off this withered bloom that the plant can grow stronger, fuller, and in some cases bloom again, as is the case in fact with my rose bushes.
I think we do this in our lives and in our business. We continue to feed our energy into a bloom that has withered and prevent the option to bloom again, or force that bloom to wait an entire season.
So what if we taught ourselves to look at each new bloom as a great, beautiful and temporary win, being fully ready to move on right away to the next step, the next stage, the next idea, or just the next repetition of that beautiful bloom?
Do you do it? Do you find yourself funneling energy into a tired bloom in some area of your life or business? I know I do. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
I got some bad news from a friend this week. You know the kind, the kind that makes you immediately infinitely more appreciative of your life, your relationships, all that.
If you're reading this, it's pretty likely you practice daily gratitude, or at least practice gratitude in your life.
I'm challenging all of you, including myself, to step it up a notch and truly cherish your life.
Why does it take these moments of tragedy to wake us up? And why does that lucidity not last? It shouldn't take news of an accident, illness, death or divorce to make us stand up and say WOW I'm so incredibly lucky I have an amazing life.
News hits of a shooting or horrible accident to befall kids somewhere and social media blows up with hug your kids messages. Someone's parent or grandparent dies and everyone calls or posts memories of their parents and grandparents. A tornado or hurricane levels a town and we suddenly stop complaining about the house we're living in.
Why do we wait?
I know I'm really lucky. I have a lot of people around me that tell me they appreciate and care for me all the time, most of all my amazing husband. He's thankful for little things and big things in our life from running an errand for him to making his lunch for his trips, but there are moments like receiving this news yesterday when that all feels so superficial.
We need to strive to keep the best of us at the top of mind every day, not just in the aftermath of the latest tragedy.
This past weekend I completed the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. That's totally not the cool part. The cool part is that I did it with my girlfriend who has only been running a year. I've done 4 previous half marathons, and I had a pretty decent cheering section at every one.
This time, my husband was there with me, which is always awesome, and even he was helping to cheer on my friend.
Every person that has congratulated me on the race almost surprises me. Part of me feels like I didn't even run the race.
Because it wasn't about me.
It was an absolutely amazing experience to be able to fully support someone in achieving a huge massive goal. Especially when she doubted, especially when she was afraid, especially when she was willing to accept less from herself.
And, don't you know, this felt like a much bigger accomplishment than my own first half marathon.
Who can YOU support this week?
Isn't it amazing how the first time you learn something, it seems impossible?
It becomes possible, then manageable, then easy, then second nature.
You can back slide, but once past that first learning curve, it's never quite as difficult again.
The danger, is that you may not work as hard as you could or should on those subsequent efforts.
This weekend, I'm gearing up to run the Chicago Rock n Roll half marathon. I haven't run a half marathon in several years.
My training hasn't been nearly what it should this year for a myriad of reasons, but I'm still getting out there and it's going to be awesome. The best part is that I have a girlfriend who will be running her very first half marathon. She has just become a new runner in the past year and she's diving headlong into the love of the activity.
I remember my first half marathon. It was epic to me. It was a HUGE accomplishment, our first cattle dog, Loki died just before the race, he had been my running partner. My virtual trainer in Australia not only called me that morning, but sent flowers! My amazing husband was there to support me the whole way!
I finished that race with a stress fracture and didn't even know it.
This will be my 5th half marathon, and I haven't run a straight distance race since the Chicago marathon in 2011, that year I did my first obstacle race, an Olympic distance triathlon and the marathon all within less than 6 months. I got pretty addicted to obstacle racing for a while but I'm really excited to get back to half marathons. I think it's my favorite distance.
I'm not going for any kind of personal best at all this time, it's SO much more exciting to support a friend!
The funny thing is that I have no doubt that I'll be able to run the distance, that I'll be happy with the experience.
What have you learned that seemed impossible at first and now seems like child's play?
I just completed the book "Think and Grow Rich for Women" and the final chapter really struck me.
Sharon Lechter talked about balance in a way I've never thought of before and surely has changed the way I'll ever think of it again.
She quotes the Merriam Webster's dictionary definition of balance as
the ability to move or to remain in a position without losing control or falling
She also notes that as women we never stop moving, so why would we strive to achieve something that is defined as just that.
I took it to another thought and correlated it to the statement I've most heard quoted by Anthony Robbins which is
If you're not growing, you're dying.
Sharon went on to assert that what we should be seeking is presence. Rather than feeling guilty for not doing something else in this moment, seek and choose to be fully present doing what you are doing in any given moment.
I love this philosophy. I feel thankful that I'm already practicing this in many ways, of course I can improve in this area, as most of us can in most areas of our lives.
This brings to mind for me so many people I see these days with their smart phones out at the dinner table, or at a business meeting. Don't get me wrong, I understand that you may be taking notes, or using social media to share and or promote the cool experience you are having. I've been to meetings and conferences where they ask you to tweet the hash tag, etc.
I challenge you to ditch the search for balance and embrace the choice to be fully present.
When you are with your family, don't worry about the business or household tasks that need to be completed, BE with your family. When you are focused on the work you need to complete for your business, don't feel guilty that you are not spending time with your family.
Certainly, do your best to arrange your schedule so that you can make the optimal use of your time, and serve your highest values.
I find so often that running is a metaphor for my life. I was out on my first 6 mile run of the season today and noticed 3 pretty big points that directly correlate to my business.
I'm behind on my half marathon training compared to where I feel I should be based on the date of my race and my past experience.
Of course, I still ran the run that was on the schedule for today. With little consideration to whether i was ready or not. So I ran my first 6 mile of the season 2 days after my first 5 mile of the season. As a seasoned runner, I know that could possibly be a recipe for disaster, but I'm more focused on the goal and the outcome than the process and the journey. Have to hit that finish line!
Thankfully I stopped myself from trying to do an 8 mile run the following day. I have some sane moments after all.
I do this in my business, in my house work, I beat myself up for not doing this long laundry list of things I've set up for myself because I'm so focused on the result and I want the result NOW. As a result, I don't do all the things, and then feel bad because I'm "behind".
How friggin silly!!!!!!!
I'm binary. My husband makes fun of me all the time that I have a binary bladder. I don't have to go to the bathroom, and then I have to go right NOW!
I noticed that about my running today. I'd be running (jogging) and I'd run until I was near my aerobic threshold, then I would stop (walk) until I caught my breath and rinse and repeat. Even after I noticed this, and took note that if I could just throttle my speed I could sustain it for so much longer. I'll be going along and my pace app will announce current pace 8 minutes 30 seconds per mile, split pace 11 minutes 48 seconds per mile. What the heck am I doing running at an 8:30 pace? That's a much faster pace than I can sustain, so I hold it until I can't hold it any longer than walk 10 paces or so then repeat. If I could hold a 9:30 or 9:45 pace, I could sustain it for a long period of time.
This is true in many areas of my life. I have 2 speeds, stop and go. I get moving on something and push until I can't sustain the pace any longer, then I come to a complete stand still. I need to learn to move at a sustainable pace. Throttle my efforts and push through a mild level of discomfort rather than "take a break" as soon as I feel fatigue setting in.
Today I went on one of my first runs of the season without the dogs. When I run with the dogs, they need to stop to go to the bathroom, they stop at all cross streets, and are sometimes distracted by this or that causing us to stop for a moment or two. I've gotten used to that.
Running alone today, I did my first sustained effort of 3 miles. It was tough, reminded me that I need to build up my stamina considerably before my 13.1 race mid July.
I let others set the pace. I enjoy pacing with others, but I allow it to hold me back. I can see where I sometimes do this in other areas of my life. It is easy and comfortable to stay at the speed and pace that someone is doing so I don't have to push myself, stretch myself. It also reminds me that I need to step up and into my role as a leader more fully in some areas of my life and inspire others to step up to MY pace.
How about you? Do you see any of these weird habits showing up in your life?
1. The "I'm behind I need to catch up" mentality
2. Two speeds, stop and full speed and nothing in between
3. Letting others set a "comfortable" pace below your own capabilities
