First let me just say this out front…:  NO I don’t think Partnershipping is a real word!  But for today I don’t think those responsible for dictionaries will care.

Second, I believe that too often today individuals, organizations and/or businesses do NOT embrace Partnershipping as a first priority when building a new initiative.  And when I refer to Partnershipping I don’t just mean groups getting together…I am referring to simple, individual, person-to-person partnership actions too!

As I work with different organizations or individuals on planning for the future, I standardly ask them about their current and anticipated Partnershipping strategies.  The unfortunate response is:  “Well we are thinking about that…but it’s way down on our list of priorities.”  And the rationales that follow include:

• It would take too long to get everyone on the same page.
• They probably wouldn’t be interested.
• It is mostly our responsibility.
• There isn’t enough money to make it worth their while.

Are these the rationales of a Partnershipping Drop-Out?

I realize I am framing the task of effective Partnershipping in a light-hearted way…but please know that it is a high-value professional development asset.  Most of my best leadership and innovation achievements were (and still are) the result of old and new Partnershipping!

Bottomline:  Make Partnershipping one of the first considerations when starting or restarting an initiative.  Great minds can and do think alike.