Priscilla Archangel, Ph.D.
Supporter or Partner: 5 Steps to Engaging Business Relationships
Supporter relationships are evidenced by business interactions that are more transactional. Supporters focus more on what they are getting, rather than what they are giving. Supporters emphasize the importance of clients’ understanding and valuing their expertise. They tend to receive more crisis calls as a reactionary response from the businesses because something hasn’t turned out as expected.
Partnership relationships are evidence by a shared investment and mutual interest in business results. Partners are engaged with business leaders and contacts. They proactively take the pulse of the business to understand what’s working well and what isn’t. They place more focus more on how they’re helping the business than what they’re getting out of it.
In our business relationships there are many positions and responsibilities that are traditionally considered “supporting” roles to the core parts of the business. They may provide financial services, IT services, technical training, talent acquisition and more. They may perform analyses and gather data insights as a foundation for key business decisions. They may be part of the internal team, or they may be an external professional services firm. When revenues are down and budgets are tight, these groups may also feel the pinch of cutbacks faster than other groups whose functions are considered more critical. In some respect, supporting functions continually strive to justify the added value they bring. But often, having a supporter relationship is not enough. Businesses need a partnership. Continue reading
Purpose, Patience and Preparation: 5 Principles for Success
Everyone has a purpose, but not everyone will recognize it and fulfill it. And one of the biggest reasons why is because they won’t have the patience to go through the process to see it come to pass. Joe is a good example of how practicing patience and preparation ultimately led to fulfilling his purpose.
Joe grew up the youngest of four brothers on the family farm in the Midwest. His father owned herds of cattle and while they weren’t poor, they were far from rich. One day Joe had a dream that he would be running a multi-million-dollar company and make a distinctive impact on millions of people. Different from any other dream, this one was vivid and clear. The next morning, he remembered every detail of it and couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow this meant something. Now this seemed the farthest thing from reality because none of Joe’s brothers had gone to college or left the family business, and there was no expectation that he would either. Continue reading
Managing Risk: Priorities and Decisions
Bob sat down at his desk and let out a huge sigh. He had just returned from lunch with one of the board members at his company. They were preparing for the current CEO to retire within the next 6 months and the board wanted to initiate a formal selection process to confirm Bob as a candidate to replace him. Bob had been with the company for 15 years and held the CFO role for 5 years. It was time to step up. He knew the inner workings of the company as well as challenges in the industry. He also knew that his chances of being selected were pretty good. But there was one nagging issue on his mind. He fundamentally felt that the strategy the current CEO and Board were pursuing wasn’t going to pay off the way they thought. He had shared his concerns in the past but given the politics didn’t feel he could push it too far. Now, if he were to be selected as CEO, he realized he couldn’t lead the organization forward with a strategy he didn’t believe in. He knew that two or three of the twelve board members might support his thinking, but that wasn’t sufficient to make the shift he felt was necessary. And if he declined consideration, he’d have to come up with a really good reason because telling them he didn’t believe in their strategy would call into question his role over the past several years. Continue reading
Six steps to building trust in relationships
While many of us intellectually understand the importance of building trusting relationships, we don’t always demonstrate it.
Consider the case of Cathy. She was recently appointed as VP responsible for relationship management for her firm’s largest client. The interactions between the client and her predecessor became rocky and she must quickly smooth things out and prove that her company can provide value added products and services. The fact that her company was voted by an industry panel as providing “best in class” products doesn’t carry enough weight. It’s all about building a trusting relationship so that the customer feels their needs are being met.
And then there’s Derek. He just joined a major retailer and is tasked with turning around their relationship with their franchisees which has become contentious over the past several years. The company is trying to convince the franchisees to invest money in upgrading their stores and provide new menu options, but he first must restore trust that the marketing strategies will drive traffic and increase revenue. Derek is not fully convinced that the company has the right plans, but he needs to quickly understand their needs and make sure there is proper alignment. Continue reading
Six Tips to Maximize “What’s in Your Hands?”
Capital One has a frequently aired commercial with the tag line “What’s in your wallet?” It conveys the message that if you possess their credit card, you will have greater spending power and ability to acquire the things you want and need. But if it stays in your wallet, and you don’t use it, you won’t activate the power it holds. You need to not only have it, you need to use it.
The same is true for the question, “What’s in your hands?”. We each possess the capability to accomplish great things if we use the passions, perspectives, talents and capabilities in our hands. This includes recognizing our unique blend of thought processes, sensitivities, interests and the environments where they will be most useful. But we must make it a priority to nurture and cultivate these qualities. Continue reading
Recent Comments