A note about collaboration and new power: The other day, I was trading emails with someone whos leading a nonprofit with a mission that I respect, and I asked him if he would feel comfortable introducing me to someone at a partner organization. His response began, You have no shame!! before saying NO in no uncertain terms, all while saying I could have helped him more. Wow, I thought as I read his email, I used to get emails like that in venture capital (surely, the most competitive industry known to man) but never doing non-profit work. I really think that the real leadership challenge these days is to find ways to collaborate and partner effectively and well with as many different people and stakeholders as possible. Of course, the leadership at Uber would completely disagree, but look at the price they are paying for having such an arrogant, self-absorbed culture -- 7 or 8 countries have banned Uber in the past few weeks, they have very few friends in the media, and regulators in the US feel empowered to take on the villain. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of Uber board meetings: they are learning that karma still exists. More broadly, open innovation has emerged as one of the key themes in the corporate R&D. You dont have to do everything on your own; partner with people and organizations who do what they do well. Similarly, the fastest growing non-profits, like DonorsChoose.org, Kiva, and Year Up find multiple ways to partner across sectors, something Fuse Corps has also benefited from greatly, and works to catalyze. That said, it always astounds me how many people with a lot of ability want to do everything their own way, and lead their own movement. As I wrote this guy, Ive seen dozens of well-intentioned and brilliant people over the past few years want to lead movements ON THEIR OWN. Put aside the fact that the definition of a movement is to rally as many people more than one as possible. I just think the focus is internal, not external or broader picture focused. I always come back to the quote attributed to Harry Truman and Ronald Reagan: “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. So, no, collaboration is not bullshit as some tough guys may try to say. Done well, its actually the secret to living in this new power world as Henry Timms and Jeremy Heimans illustrate in this new Harvard Business Review article (https://hbr.org/2014/12/understanding-new-power). They describe new power as a current that can grow and multiply through collaboration and sharing, not one that is limited and scarce, like old power which is scarce and closely guarded. Those caught using old power tactics in a new power world sadly limit their own potential, and the missions they are seeking to build. Speaking of which, I never heard back from that frustrated non profit acquaintance. Its a shame, I thought so highly of him until this week, and introduced him to a number of high profile contacts of mine. I have a feeling hell come around; the question is when? Thanks for any thoughts or reactions, as always, and heres to NEW POWER!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 01:09:56 +0000
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