Page 178 - Fearless Leadership

Standing for the Success of Each Other 165

Questions for Building a Committed Partnership
Committing to the Success of Each Other

1. Are we willing to stand for the success of each other both
privately and publicly?
2. Are we willing to end conspiracies against each other?
3. Do we promise to communicate immediately and restore
the relationship if we feel we can no longer support each
other?
4. Are we willing to grant trust?
5. Are we willing to listen for positive intention?
6. Do we agree to actively coach each other on blind spots and
graciously accept coaching?

Committing to the Success of the Organization
1. Are we willing to set aside our personal agendas and commit
to the enterprise mission and initiatives?
2. Are we willing to eliminate silos and build committed
partnerships throughout the organization?

Clean Up the Past: Operate with a Clean Slate

When there are trust issues, committed partners address and resolve them
rather than allowing them to fester. They do not use the past as an excuse
for the lack of an effective working relationship. Committed partners clean
the slate so that the working relationship is not contaminated by old
assumptions, beliefs, and judgments. The agreement to stand for the suc-
cess of each other includes communicating immediately the moment you
notice something is off in the relationship or when you need to take
accountability for your impact.
Keep in mind that our automatic behavior is to avoid talking about dif-
ficult or sensitive issues; we withhold our feelings and hope everything will
blow over. This is where the skill of clean up is useful: it provides a way to
efficiently clean the slate and make amends so problems do not escalate
or persist.