Page 184 - Fearless Leadership

Standing for the Success of Each Other 171

2. Where do you need to build committed partnerships? Think
broadly and consider your peers, direct reports, team, customers,
community leaders, key suppliers, and other stakeholders.
What committed partnerships will you build, and by when?
3. Who are you avoiding building a committed partnership
with? We all have people with whom we believe it is not
possible to form a committed partnership. And we have evi-
dence to prove this. Set aside your assumptions and identify
key people with whom a committed partnership would make
a significant difference to you and the business.

LEADERSHIP ACTION

1. Initiate Clean Ups with Individuals and Groups. Before you
attempt to build a committed partnership, you must clean up
unresolved issues and conflicts. The most difficult task you will
encounter when doing a clean up is not the act of cleaning up,
it is whether you have the courage to give up your need to be
right. If you are stuck in a rigid point of view and believe that
you are right and others are wrong, a clean up will not work.
You cannot authentically clean up a situation unless you take
100%-zero accountability. Anything less will be viewed as con-
trived and inauthentic. Examine and suspend your judgments
and assumptions so you can genuinely listen to the perspective
of others.
Identify three individuals and/or groups that you are willing
to clean up with and take action. When doing a clean up,
always start with your commitment to the person and your
relationship. Apologize without defending your behavior or
explaining what you intended. Then take 100% accountability
without expecting others to do the same. Every time you
authentically clean up a relationship, you pave the way for
building or restoring a committed partnership.
2. Initiate a conversation. Explain your purpose (what you hope
to achieve), establish the context (why you are having this con-
versation), state your commitment to the success of the other