Previously I have explored three critical elements necessary to design and manage an effective partnership. The right mindset, skillset and toolset are essential to success. I want to add a fourth – COURAGE. Courage is an essential partnership element AND a core partnership value! It is not about the absence of fear, it is about taking the action you need to take, even though you may be afraid and feel uncertain.
The word courage comes from the Latin word for “heart”. And, just as your heart pumps blood to your arms and legs and brain, your COURAGE pumps energy to the other three essential elements of effective partnerships – mindset, skillset and toolset and the other four core partnership values – diversity, equity, openness and mutual benefit.
Why is courage needed in partnerships? Partnerships require living with uncertainty, even fear about how it will work - and that can be paralyzing. The reality is, if we don’t have the courage to actually bring partnerships to life when it matters most, you’ll get stuck in never moving forward and delivering the impact possible.
So, can you find courage within yourself and your organization to try; to build the bridge while you walk on it.; to work and live with ambiguity? Partnership needs courage to ask questions, to be curious, and not to fear new solutions. To work differently in consultation, to regard setbacks as iterations rather than failures. To push on with your experimentation to create bigger, more expansive outcomes than you imagined..
Partnership courage is calling It doesn’t mean you don’t get afraid. It means you don’t let fear stop you.