Leadership in a partnership looks a lot like being a master facilitator.
In a partnership or coalition, your leadership success is based on whether people continue to coordinate and/or collaborate. Do they work together well?
In order for that to happen, you need to set the tone, show value to everyone in the group, keep listening, learning and linking as we have talked about in previous posts. You will find that some key characteristics of a good leader are very similar to that of a good facilitator!
If you want to improve your leadership skills in working with partnerships or coalitions, then consider the following questions that can apply to facilitating groups and pick one or two to work on this week!
- Do you have a clear vision for the partnership?
- Do you facilitate conversations and connections?
- Do you set an example of coordination and collaboration?
- Are you humble?
- Are you open?
- Are you authentic?
- Are you are a good listener?
- Do you try to bring out the best in others?
- Do you build trust among your partners?
- Do you communicate consistently, clearly and concisely?
- Do you try to think of how to benefit others by participating in your partnership?
- Do you manage the various personalities in your partnership well?
- Do you create a neutral forum for working together?
Depending upon the partnership, the current climate and history of working together, some of these areas are going to be more important than others at any given time. However, they can all help you improve your leadership with partnerships.
Have you found any positive (or negative) experiences when you have focused on improving in any of these areas?
Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash
