We live in an extremely competitive world that places a high premium on winning. Pair this with our commitment to individualism, and beating others seems to be the rule of nearly everything from business to the things we do outside of work.
But there is another way, and surprisingly enough, it’s the opposite side of the competition coin: THINK COLLABORATION!
Business Collaboration
Unless you’re running your own business and doing everything by yourself, chances are good that you are a part of a team. Maybe that means your department or maybe it means the entire company, but it’s important to remember that your job is interdependent on other people and vice versa.
While there’s nothing wrong with healthy competition, it’s a good idea to shift the way you think about your work and your company to a mindset focused on collaboration instead of competition. In a competition, there is always a winner and a loser. In collaboration, the sum of the parts is greatly improved by the contributions from the individual members.
Organizational Collaboration
Whether you’re a coach, a volunteer at your place of worship, or you’re taking part in any other organization, working together will almost certainly bring about better results than going at it alone. In fact, for all organizations, going alone is just not an option! If you’ve been butting heads with someone else in the organization, instead of creating two paths, work together to form a single, better path. Not only will you have less frustration to deal with, but other people will also appreciate the work that you and your team have put in to benefit others.
Entrepreneurial Collaboration
You probably didn’t start your business out of spite, right? So why wall yourself off from the rest of the world when you could find allies to improve your life and your business? While teaming up with your biggest competitor might not be an option, what about another business that is tangentially related to yours? Could a collaboration turn people’s heads and make them reevaluate you in an even more positive light? Would meeting new people open up more chances for you to sell more?
If you’ve been searching for a way to help your organization collaborate more effectively, or you want to transform your life, contact me, Tracey Knight, today!