Due to the various businesses that I have operated, exited and been involved in scaling over the years I am often asked - especially when I make guest appearances on podcasts - for hints, tips and hacks for success. “What is the secret to your success” is something that I have heard on more than one occasion when being interviewed.
There are, of course, lots of contributing factors to success (although success is all just a construct of perception in the mind but let’s not get into that subject right now!) but constantly and consistently I have found one foundational truth to be present where achievement occurs… and that is collaboration.
This may sound simple - in fact, I almost wish I had a more complex and complicated answer for that often-asked question - but a focus on collaborating with amazing people really has been something that has altered the direction of my life and expedited results.
I think anybody that's truly successful has to have collaborated at some point to get to where they wanted to go.
What is that famous saying; “No Man Is An Island”, never a truer statement made in my opinion.
If you look at the definition of collaborating you’ll see that it means ‘to work together’ or ‘cooperate with one another’, but those statements don’t do justice to the true power of collaborative endeavour!
For me, it is about finding that person (or people) who are committed to the same goals, are in alignment with the mission and vision of the project, have a vested interest in the accomplishment, are driven towards a common focus and are hell-bent on hitting a specific target that generates a beneficial outcome for every party involved.
When all these components are in place, it's amazing what can be achieved.
Through the various projects that we have most recently been a part of we have ended up collaborating with some of the most influential business leaders in the world, famous icons who are considered to be at the very top of their game, some of the top entrepreneurs on the planet, professors, doctors, academics, strategists and plenty more who are too humble for me to brag about how amazing they are here in this blog.
What do these people all have in common? They all have an exceptional level of specific skills in their own zone of genius and they are all grounded enough to listen to those who know more than them in the collaborative team that they play a role in.
Collaboration is beautiful if it's done with the right people and the right intentions.
A common follow-up question I get is about why more people don’t collaborate if it is so powerful. This is an interesting point and, as I see it, the reason for this is that most people don't even collaborate with themselves. And that's why they're not successful. They don’t know themselves well enough to clearly define their skills and weaknesses. They think that have to be everything to everyone, they fear bringing others into the fold as they think it will reveal a vulnerability or a chink in their armour.
From my experience, nothing could be further from the truth.
When you actively welcome in the brilliance of others, you open yourself up to a world of interlinked opportunities.
Of course, there are legal frameworks, business protections and structures that must be put in place to protect you and serve your best interests, but once these are in place, go forth and collaborate!
Collaboration is a mindset, once you start to see the way others can increase your ability to co-produce brilliant outcomes you’ll open yourself up to a world of possibilities.
Incredible insight and absolutely concur with so much of what you say and the way you see the world.