The other day I was leafing through an old, battered copy of Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" that sits in my bookcase.
While all of the habits are important and should be followed, habit #4 stood out to me:
"Think win-win"
Covey said that you have to work effectively with others to achieve optimal results:
"Think Win-Win isn’t about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration. Most of us learn to base our self-worth on comparisons and competition. We think about succeeding in terms of someone else failing–that is, if I win, you lose; or if you win, I lose. Life becomes a zero-sum game. There is only so much pie to go around, and if you get a big piece, there is less for me; it’s not fair, and
I’m going to make sure you don’t get anymore. We all play the game, but how much fun is it really?"
I've incorporated win-win in my own business, especially around my joint venture partnerships.
When I started to focus on doing joint ventures with others in the coaching space, some people told me I was making a mistake.
They said that I shouldn't promote anyone other than myself (basically saying that the pie was only so big).
But I took a leap of faith and enthusiastically got the word out about others who had offerings that, while not exactly the same as mine, benefited the coaching community.
It's now years later, and I still don't regret my choice ...
If you have something of value that coaches should know about, I currently have a few openings to promote good partners.
You can get the details, and book a call to chat with me to see if we're a fit, by going here:
Marc Mawhinney