Teamwork Makes The Dream Work: The building blocks of partnership

Once upon a time, someone asked me to define what a good woman was. At the time I didn’t know how to answer because I knew regardless of how I answered, it would be subjective based on my own opinion on what I was looking for at the time. Instead, I embraced the idea that maybe there are no good or bad people, just compatible ones.

Fast forward to today and still this idea of what a good man or good woman is lingers. I’m not so sure but I do know what I seek is a good partner and if you ask me what that is, I have a more direct answer for it. Below, I will list some of the characteristics of what I feel make up both good and bad partners.

    1. A bad partner will try to compete with you. They secretly hate that you’re doing better than they are. A good partner will cheer you on during your victory lap, understanding that a win for 1 is a win for all.

    2. A bad partner understands where their strengths are but instead of taking ownership of things they are strong at, will instead force you to become strong in those areas out of resentment and not wanting to be responsible for your shortcomings. A good partner understands that the both of you enter into the partnership bringing your own set of strengths and knows that while they focus on the things they are strong at, their partner can focus on things centered around their respective strengths.

    3. A bad partner shuns vulnerability. They don’t want to appear weak nor can they accept you when weak. They’ll keep things secret knowing they need help and because of that, the foundation will be weak. A good partner understands that they may need help or need to be the help from time to time and as long as each person is willing to pick up the slack, the foundation will remain strong.

    4. A bad partner will discredit certain roles due to the weight of the responsibility they carry but a good partner knows that each role plays a significant part in the operation in it’s entirety and therefore cannot be discredited.

    5. A bad partner will wait for you to take initiative in order for them to do so out of fear of overextending themselves with no reciprocation. A good partner finds joy in how taking the extra steps makes the people around them feel. And that, is payment enough.

    6. A bad partner finds joy in winning arguments. A good partner finds joy in compromise and understanding.

Now of course, this is just my opinion but I do think these are some necessarily building blocks to a long lasting partnership with anybody. It's not about being good or bad, it's about being easy to work with. We are either compatible or we are not, but partnership is where it begins for me.

Thanks for reading. 💯