Whether it’s a science or an art (I like to believe it’s both), the concept of working together seems to get lost in the structural hierarchy in a workplace. For starters, we have employers and employees. Then, as we integrate ourselves within a new work environment, we begin to see more of everyone’s position within the company, for example, an assistant manager or a different department manager.

Unfortunately though, sometimes some people see that with great power comes great… authority… which is not wrong, but also not the best way to describe a person’s role in the company. I like to emanate Spider-man’s axiom “with great power comes great responsibility” by reminding my current and future Teammates that we’re all human, and no matter what position we may have, we may still be learning. Furthermore, since we may still be learning, everyone’s role is to help each other out. And therein that responsibility of helping each other, comes that great power that all of us hold no matter what position. Everyone possesses that power because it is everyone’s role: to help one another out.

When we help each other, we’re also implicitly building partnerships. Most of the time, however, this implicit connection is being formed without being brought to light, and because of this, gets lost in the ongoing occurrences of the work environment. This is unfortunate when it happens because some of us may want the partnership to be acknowledged explicitly. As Leaders, this is extremely important to take into consideration, especially in our roles to create more leaders.

By establishing those partnerships, we acknowledge our teammates and extend our support directly to them.
By establishing those partnerships, we level the playing field and help keep each other accountable.

🔴 Effective Leaders don’t manage. We, instead, partner with people.
The key to creating more leaders in the work environment is by establishing those partnerships and working together.

By establishing those partnerships with our Teammates, we allow ourselves to become vulnerable, relatable, and approachable, thus, increasing the trust and transparency that ought to exist in the work environment. The reason that trust and transparency ought to exist and should be something any company needs to strive for, is because without those values, building relationships would be nearly, if not, impossible.

Without transparency, there’s little to no trust.
Without trust, there’s little to no relationships.
Without relationships, there’s no team morale.
Without team morale, there’s little to no productivity.
Without productivity, teams spend more time in the storming stages, where conflict is high and if no compromises/agreements as a team are made, the company may fail.

These are all the WHY -the reasons that highlight the importance of trust and transparency in relationships,
& establishing partnerships with our Teammates is HOW we can imbue these values into the Team.

Furthermore, I find joy in connecting with my Teammates and have learned that we all have different ways of becoming receptive to one’s approach. What I found that works for me when establishing these partnerships is to clearly and sincerely express my intentions with my Teammates in a one-on-one conversation.
For example, I like to say something along the lines of:

“I see you and appreciate you as an equal player in this field. My intentions for bringing this up is to form a partnership between us and help each other improve and reach our goals. What do you say?”

It’s straightforward, honest, and mutual.

Partnerships are too often glamorized in the marketing field between companies that the core essence of its practice gets overlooked in the “soft-skills” sector. When we take the time to equip this intent to partner with our peers, along with the skill of communication, we bring the rippling benefits back internally to the quality of our work, starting with the Team. From here, we are able to then align our goals, and thus, expand our influence and impact as Leaders.

🔴 Be Empowered, my friends.