11 Jul Vive La Differénce
In the early years of a committed relationship, all couples have to learn to make adjustments. Reality turns out to be different than our expectations. Quirks we hadn’t noticed in the dreamy days of dating start to drive us nuts. The two of us were certainly no exception.
One of the biggest adjustments we had to make was related to our Introvert-Extrovert relationship. One of us craved solitude at the end of a long day, while the other wanted to give a blow by blow of every interaction. When disagreements arose, one of us wanted to hash it out right then and there, and the other wanted to retreat and talk about it another day. It took time for us to adapt to each other’s native ways of doing things.
The same could be said of our business relationship. We had decades of experience as a couple before starting CopreneurCPR, but we still had to make adjustments when we started working together. As a married couple, our personal rapport and habits were long established – it was our business chemistry that needed attention. Specifically, we had to re-learn each other in the context of business, and harmonize our different working styles.
What surprised us was how much we learned about ourselves from working with each other. For example, Ron learned that he was a pretty decent writer, which hadn’t before been part of his self-image. What Ron uncovered was that his ability to think deeply and outline logical progressions translated well to writing blogs. By partnering with Margaret on content development, Ron discovered a latent ability of his own.
We also found that some of our individual strengths were amplified when we put them together. For example, Margaret has always been an idea person, but her ability to brainstorm and generate new strategies became super charged when Ron joined in as a thinking partner and sounding board.
In our experience, you only water down your individual working styles when you try to meet in the middle. It’s more important to find ways to take advantage of them.
Of course, having your significant other looking over your shoulder isn’t all sweetness and light. Sometimes they’re going to make you aware of things that you don’t necessarily want to know! But that’s all part of the process, too.
This Week: What are the ways you work differently than your partner and they from you? How can these differences be complementary rather than conflicting?
When it Comes to Your Working Styles, Don’t Dilute Your Differences
Most leaders accept that at some time in the future, their time at the helm will end and the business will be given into the care of the next leader. However, just thinking about the transition can be daunting and overwhelming for the senior leader. If that weren’t enough, most owners experience their own succession just once. Tandem Partners provides the experience and professional guidance needed to move through the strategic, operational and interpersonal issues that are all a part of transition.
For families in business, success is not just measured in fiscal years, but over generations. Yet often, leaders are so focused on the day-to-day that they aren’t able to step back and focus on the issues that impact long-term sustainability. We help leadership teams assess where they are now, where they’re trying to go and how they’re going to get there. Our expertise in the areas of organizational strategy, structure, process and performance is a unique feature of our work, and integral to our transition management approach.
