Alliances & Partnerships

Success and creativity in business and alliances

The home improvement project of our house reached its next phase recently: it was time for me to build new walls and ceilings in the hallways. Our house was originally built in 1930 and in those older houses you will...

Collaboration is also a leadership competence

The second group of 3 competencies in Marshall Goldsmith’s 15 most important competencies for leaders, is all about working together with others. It is the group of competencies around engaging people, with competencies like “Developing People”, “Building Partnerships” and “Sharing...

The benefits of attending the Alliance Masterclass

In this conversation with my colleague and alliance partner Anoop Nathwani we talk about the Alliance Masterclass and the benefits of attending. Read more about the upcoming Alliance Masterclasses here. https://youtu.be/BjTYUIH1WqU

3 tips to increase your alliance success

Strategic Alliances are on the rise. In many recent CEO studies, a majority of the CEO’s indicate that they will start a new alliance in the next 12 months. In a recent article in Strategy+Business, Ben Gomes-Casseres and Bob Saada...

Communication is a leadership competence

Last week I mentioned the global study on which Marshall Goldsmith identified the 15 most important competencies for leaders. These 15 competencies are divided into 5 groups of each 3 competencies. The first group is one that I have mentioned...

Partner selection: Why likeability might not be the best criterium

Partner selection: Partnerships and alliances have a high failure rate. Many companies try to avoid failure through control: strong contracts that prescribe how to handle in certain situations. However, failure in an alliance is often a failure in the foundation...

Leadership, culture and performance

According to research, 35% of an organization's performance is determined by the company's culture. This is significant: one single factor drives over one third of an organization’s performance! As such, it makes a lot of sense for organizations to find...

Fail more, learn more.

The general feeling about failure is a negative one. The first response to an internet search on failure gives: “lack of success”, which emphasizes the negative feeling. However, when you search the internet for quotes about failure, the results speak...

Fast track alliance partner selection

19 years ago, I was surprised when I heard from my financial partner that he had decided to pull his financing back from our joint venture.  If I had done my due diligence right, I would have known that our...

When is it time to transform?

The caterpillar knows exactly when it is the right moment to spin itself into a cocoon and start the transformation into a butterfly. However, for us, the moment to transform is not always so obvious. Missed transformations Kodak, who invented...

Is business personal?

For some companies the old approach of Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) might still work in mass marketing. However, I believe that business is personal. It is no longer about B2C or B2B, it is about...

Two tips for increased communication and better relationships

Communication might be the most difficult element in relationships. If you take a look at your own relationships, in your personal life as well as your business life, I am sure you will recognize that some of them are better...