I’ve been reflecting lately on the importance of collaboration to success.
Seems intuitive – I think most leaders would agree. But what I have learned over the years is how critical it is to take the time to build a strong foundation.
I’ve learned the hard way that when you don’t take the time to do that, the collaboration is at risk of faltering – or at least of being not as successful as it could have been.
That’s why I am so delighted to be able to share with you today an exciting development at Vision Coaching: Marilyn Orr, a long-time coach and collaborator, has agreed to serve as Coaching Services Manager.
In this crucial role, Marilyn will work closely with coaches and those they coach. She’ll have varied responsibilities but they all come down to providing strong support to both, ensuring the growth and success of coaches and coachees alike.
(For more on Marilyn and this role, see this companion article.)
Strong foundation
In some ways, this brings Marilyn and I back to our roots, as partners in another business two decades ago. It was through that business, Profiles Global, that we discovered a demand for leadership coaching. As that demand grew, we both went off to study leadership coaching at Royal Road Roads University.
When I decided to launch Vision Coaching in 2005, Marilyn quickly joined me in the enterprise, building awareness and clientele…and having a lot of fun in the process.
But we were careful to lay the groundwork for a strong foundation in our collaboration. One of the steps we took early on is to develop a psychological contract, answering a series of questions and then laying out how we work effectively together and how we would deal with conflict.
Highs and lows
Over the more than two decades that have unfolded since, we have always worked together but there has been an ebb and flow to how closely, with work and life taking different directions for each of us over those decades.
For each of us, there have been lows and highs in our own journeys while the bonds of collaboration and friendship have remained strong.
What I've learned is that collaboration is hard because it takes both high cooperation and high trust. In Marilyn, I have both.