“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” –Helen Keller
A couple of years ago, my father shared with me Steven Pressfield’s books, The War of Art and Turning Pro. They’re inspirational, funny and succinct little books about defeating “Resistance” – that small voice in the back of your head that keeps so many of us from doing what we long to do.
From starting a dream business venture, to writing a novel, or painting a masterpiece, Resistance will convince you of anything to keep you from doing your work.
My version of Resistance sought refuge in the form of what business, technology and marketing consultants have all referred to as the ‘‘bright, shiny objects syndrome’’.
Underestimating Resistance’s cunning, I failed to realize that my determination to do it all myself – from website building to graphic design, was the ultimate distracter. It kept me safely hidden behind my computer, immersed in taking course after course, so that I wouldn’t do the one thing that made my soul sing: sharing my gift of writing with those who were looking for it.
“Turning pro is free”, Steven writes, “but it’s not easy. You don’t need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind. What we get when we turn pro is, we find our power. We find our will and our voice and…we become who we always were but had, until then, been afraid to embrace and to live out.”
Indeed, a paradigm shift is happening in entrepreneurship today, one in which founders are building companies completely aligned with who they are, what they’re naturally gifted at and what they love doing so much it doesn’t feel like work. And one of the best and most effective ways we’ve found to accomplish this entails discovering your unique “zone of genius.”
Once you’ve found your zone of genius – your passion based on your unique talents, strengths and purpose – the next step is to assemble a team of talent that complements it.
Lone Ranger Anyone?
See if you identify with any of these statements:
- “I can do it better myself.”
- “The more people involved, the less control I’ll have.”
- “I like MY ideas and MY way of doing things.”
The truth is, going it alone can lead to overwork and burnout for you, and can create unnecessary stress and tension in your workplace. It can breed competition, fear, dishonesty, tunnel vision and inefficiency.
So before you limit your chance for success, why not open the door to other people’s skills and experience? Collaboration is a win-win solution that allows each person’s genius to come to the fore and get to:
Do what you love. Everyone has a unique set of passion triggers, the things you love doing because they fire up your interest and you do them well. There are also, of course, the things you struggle with doing. By collaborating, you can divide up the tasks so that all involved get to do what they love.
More ideas. Brainstorming with a partner or team will inevitably lead to more ideas than one person can think up on his or her own. There’s also an incredible opportunity for innovation as people build on the ideas of others.
Belonging. It’s human nature to value the feeling of belonging, being part of something bigger and better than you are alone.
Relationships. Success in business, success at work, success in life, they’re all contingent on success in relationships. Collaboration is a place to learn, stretch and grow into more effective and healthy ways of interacting with others. Collaboration can be challenging—and it’s worth it!
How to Be a Good Collaborator
- Trust. Assume the best about people, and trust them with your head full of ideas. Have faith and remember that your collaborators want to do their best and feel good about their work at the end of the day. And trust the collaborative process, even when people do things differently than you would, and you can’t quite see how it will all come together. It will.
- Be trustworthy. Ghandi said that we need to BE the change we want to see in the world. So if you want to trust people, be someone they can trust. Act with integrity, do what you say you’re going to do, and be open and honest in your communication.
- Choose wisely. For each task that challenges you, there is someone who loves it and does it well. Build a team of experts.
Successful collaboration is a balancing act of personality types, work habits, communication styles and skills. To the lone ranger, that might seem like too much trouble. But if you’re looking to improve your performance and seal your success, collaboration is an opportunity you don’t want to pass up.