How can you build relationships with partners who have different levels of vision?

Every partnership involves four "visions": - Your personal ambitions - Your company's vision - Your partner's vision - The partner manager's ambitions More often than not, these don't align from the get go. Sometimes a PMs personal goals are different than the company's goals because e.g. they're on the way out or internal politics are at play. The earlier you map out and confirm these different visions, the better. My favourite question to ask at this stage is: "What would GREAT look like?"

To build effective relationships, you must understand "Rubbish Theory". Of course having different level of vision is so valuable, its like different perspectives.

Understand your partner's vision It's crucial to align with your partner and ensure that both parties share visions, targets, and milestones. Transparency in sharing company visions and plans is key. This alignment helps in avoiding surprises and fosters a higher level of commitment from both partners.

Without trying to understand the other side, there is no chance at all to build a bridge for cooperation. Showing empathy is the most basic step. Then listening. And then building personal relationships

Listening and understanding the needs of the partner is critical. Communication is vital. The best partnerships understand what each other requires. Trust and loyalty is what comes from a successful partnership. Together stronger.

Your partners will likely have differing visions for success. However, finding the areas you can align to drive mutual success can be an excellent foundation for productive partnerships.

In my experience, I’ve learned to put value on differences as it brings about innovation and increases creativity. What rule says we need to align our differences or that they don’t work because the mindset is different. Ask your self, one saw a candle, the outer saw a light; on saw a manual recliner the other saw a mobile chaise. One saw a horse and buggy the other saw a car. One saw a sandal the other saw a shoe; One saw a hat and the other saw an umbrella. Difference cause us to think and that is why she should not alway look to align when something much greater can be birth. - Diane C. Burton

Understanding speaks to all the issues around partnership. We seek understanding when we communicate our vision effectively which is centered on mutual respect. It inevitably helps partners adapt and support one another while they intelligently review each other's consideration and concerns. To me, understanding is key.

Leave your emotions behind and focus on the ideas shared by every member of the group. Try to learn as much as you can, other perspectives will help you to build your own character and then it will help you to decide if your point of view it is really worth it or not

Build strong connections with your channel partners by talking openly with them. Make sure there are clear ways for partners to share what they want and expect. Look for common goals and figure out how each partner's ideas can help the partnership succeed together. Stay flexible and adaptable to handle the different levels of vision, making the collaboration strong and able to handle changes.

Communicate your vision early, often, and clearly. This is not a one off activity, this is a continuous task that's key to ensuring alignment.

Communicate your vision Encouraging transparency and open communication channels is vital. Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Providing as much information as possible about your company and industry can increase the partner's chances of success and investment in your business.

The most important aspect to understand is the WHY behind your partner's vision. If you are curious about your partner and their company, a larger picture starts to form. At minimum you'll understand your partner's priorities better, but usually you'll discover even larger opportunities for your company to slot in.

Respect your partner's vision Understanding each partner's unique vision, point of view and capabilities allows for tailored approaches to maximize outcomes. This can involve assigning specific roles based on each partner’s strengths, such as having a partner skilled in presentations handle client interactions while another focuses on leveraging their network for generating leads.

Faced with the challenge of securing a multi-million-dollar project from ARAMCO, a giant in the industry, our smaller company confronted internal doubts, even from senior executives. Recognizing the need to align our internal vision, we engaged with the president and senior team, addressing their concerns in meetings. Emphasizing our unique strengths of agility and innovation, we decided to boldly pursue the project. Against all odds, with leadership focus and innovation, we won the ARAMCO deal, proving that successful relationship-building demands strategic thinking, resilience, and embracing our distinctive strengths. This triumph illustrates that, whether externally or internally, the right approach can conquer the seemingly impossible.

I agree that adapting to your partner's vision does not mean compromising on your own vision, but it can be an "AND" to your vision. In my experience, this becomes a winning and mutually beneficial combination.

Adapt to your partner's vision Identifying shared core values is essential for a lasting partnership. It's important to understand that while differences exist, a lack of shared goals or values can hinder long-term success. Once you know your partner's vision, you'll be able to adapt to it.

This is so important! Too often I’ve seen corporate leaders focus solely on what partners can or “should” be doing for the vendor. It’s a two way street. If you want partners to drive leads but don’t provide them with sales enablement or co-marketing support, then their “failures” are actually on you. Listening to your partners and finding out what you can do to set them up for success is critical to building an engaged ecosystem that will drive revenue and growth for both partners.

If your partner's vision is too far off, you need to ask yourself if that's a game you want to play. In my experience, partnerships often start out at different positions and come closer as we develop mutual understanding. But in reality, +90% of partner discovery calls aren't a good fit. You save yourself and your partner a lot of heartache if you simply state "not now". That way you can focus on more urgent opportunities and leave the door open in case circumstances change.

1. Partner selection, or to be asked to join a partnership, must begin with clear goals and objectives. Only then, different visions of partners can be directed to those common goals an dobjectives of the organization. 2. Listen to, and understand, your partners. 3. Build trust and appreciation for different/divrgent views. 4. Find ways to have untethered discussions with partners by socializing inside the organization (activities, events, seminars, outings), as well as outside the organization. Tasks and decisions regarding the organization should not be central to those interactions. 5. Support, and to the extent it furthers the organization's goals, promote and adopt partner's visions.

Stop, and don't do it. If your vision does not align with your partner's there is fundamental misalignment in how you've defined your ideal partner profile. In any good IPP there should be both quantitative components (eg TAM) and quantitative components (eg cultural, strategy, vision alignment). Moving forward into a partnership with IPP misalignments poses a significant risk in the form of wasted time, resources, and company bandwidth. Doing so regardless must mean that the upside outweighs the potential downside.

One key is to just 'get started', even if not fully aligned. Use that as a launch to start mutually exploring an opportunity, and then both sides of the visions will start becoming more clear and sync up over time the more you work together.