Recently (2008) I dug this book out of my library to review the contents for an upcoming business relationship. This is one excellent manual for building the infrastructure behind successful alliances. In fact, but not surprisingly, I was astounded at how much I have missed in setting up all previous relationships.
As usual with me, there it was sitting on the bookshelf--precisely the right resource just waiting for me to open the pages and pay attention--and, as usual, I ignored it to go with my gut. Not a very smart move for anyone who wants to seriously grow their business. So, here is a quick review of "Trusted Partners" by Jordan D. Lewis (1999, The Free Press--Simon & Shuster Inc.)
"Trusted Partners" is divided into three basic elements:
Creating & Maintaining Trust
Building Alliances
Tools for Trust: A Guide to Practioners
The first section covers the core infrastructure necessary to establish and clearly define the relationships involved in the alliance. If you pay attention to nothing else in this section, pay attention to the information on creating effective mutual goals and objectives and 'Take Nothing for Granted'.
The second section discusses the methodologies for working with specific types of allies. I recommend that you read and review this, but focus most of your attention on sections one and three.
Section three is, in my mind, by far the most physically useful. This is where the checklists come into play to match up your needs and requirements with those of the alliance partners while ensuring that you miss none of the hidden future issues. There's more--much more--but the bottom line is that in section three you will find the step-by-step processes needed to clarify and optimize relationships for the long term.
I'm sure that I bought this book when it was new (1999) so you may have difficulty locating a copy. However, the extra effort is well worth the time invested. If you are building business relationships and you want them to endure, "Trusted Partners" is one of the most effective resources you could access.
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