On business partnerships/hiring - Weekly Reflection #236

An investor once told me that one thing she looks for when analyzing startups to invest in is whether the founder(s) have a partner or solid circle of friends. It would be too difficult to navigate through all the challenges involved with building a company if there is no one supporting you, she argues. I’ve been thinking about how to establish business partnerships and what you look for in a partner.

One thing you look for in long-term partners is reliability and honesty. You want to work with someone who can tell you the truth, no matter what. You want to facilitate this behavior by leading with truth (i.e., displaying this behavior yourself) and inherently believing that seeking the truth is better than maintaining the status quo and avoiding the potential short-term burdens that come up when unveiling the truth of a situation.

You want to work with someone who can handle their workload effectively and deliver work within the expectations. Someone who has the courage to voice issues and possible mistakes as they arise along the way. You need to do the same, because you can’t expect something you don’t do from someone else. Relationships of any kind are two-way syncs. It takes sustained gentle effort from both sides to dance and get lost in it.

The reason you want this type of partnership is because there are many unexpected events happening around you, and unless you see them for what they are and resolve them with humility and conviction, your partnership and business may be standing in loose, shaky grounds and earthquakes compound until the ground breaks.

This can also be particularly fulfilling for the soul because it is not that common to find truthful, honesty-based relationships that last for a long time. We are complex creatures with many barriers preventing us from fully showing up with integrity. So, in a reliable partnership, you learn and grow together.