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Keys to Successful Collaboration Each person enters a collaboration with their own bucketful of expectations of what a successful outcome looks like. The most important first step to achieving that successful outcome is having a clearly defined answer to the question “why?” When you examine the why that fuels the outcome of any collaboration, it will help you crystallize how badly you want it. You know what you want, why you want it and the effort and energy you’re willing to expend to get it. You are motivated to let yourself be vulnerable and step outside of your comfort zone by trusting your collaborators. You seek to understand the other person’s point of view, the contributions they bring to the table, and the potential synergistic results of one plus one equaling three or four or more.
Teamwork is at the core of any successful collaboration. Bring together people with diverse experience (both business and personal), personality types, skill sets, and points of view. Diversity will help you see something from a slightly different perspective. It’s important to leave ego at the door and focus on the goal instead of seeking recognition. Establish targets from the outset. Define what you’d like to accomplish, even if today’s meeting only gets you partway there. I’ve sat on the board of directors for charities that were much more like social clubs, and nothing was accomplished. Establish set targets whereby you can see tangible progress. Everyone’s time and expertise are valuable and should be respected.
“Diversity will help you see something from a slightly different perspective.” One successful collaboration I’ve been involved in is NAWRB’s Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council (NDILC). Accomplished women from across the real estate ecosphere put together 10 leadership principles, and then decided to expand our list to an even dozen so we could
