4. Confront problem situations at once rather than waiting for the situation to escalate.

5, Invite comments from all stakeholders early in every project, especially your alliance partners.

6. Consider using humor and maybe even humility in certain situations.

7. Encourage dissent at a time and place that serves all involved.

8. Review the value of the alliance relationship. Determine how much your circles of interest overlap. Ask if winning this battle will get you closer to an OSR, or further away from it.

9. When you hear something you don’t like, repeat it back in an informational way. See if the message you received was the same as it was intended. Misunderstanding is the root of much conflict.

10. Know your buttons and don’t allow them to be pushed. You have control in this area.

11. Completely listen to what the other guy has to say before you open your mouth. Remember the adage, Listen twice before speaking once. That’s why God gave you two ears and only one mouth.

12. Remember the principle of saving face. In some societies, it is a matter of life or death. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, this is not usually the situation in North America.

13. Keep your ego in check. Be clear on the difference between high self-esteem and high ego. One serves and one does not. Need I say more?

14. Appoint a devil’s advocate and allow them to be involved in projects from the start, all the way through completion. Their job is to be a pain in the neck. It’s not that they are just picking on a certain person or position. This keeps people from taking a dissenting opinion personally.

15. Keep the consequences of your decisions in mind.

16. Value the opinion of others. Focus on the clarity of the water, not the spring from which it flows.

I understand that building Outrageously Successful Relationships can be difficult at times. My best advise for you: Know the value of your relationships. Know where you want the relationships to go and stay on course. Accept that quality Partnering just takes time and effort. Accept that there isn’t any magic--just dedicated implementation.

To access helpful additional information from Ed Rigsbee at no charge, please visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm/.

To access helpful additional information from Ed Rigsbee at no charge, please visit www.rigsbee.com/downloadaccess.htm/. Adapted from, Developing Strategic Alliances, by Ed Rigsbee, CSP. Ed Rigsbee is also the author of PartnerShift-How to Profit from the Partnering Trend and The Art of Partnering. Rigsbee has over 1,000 published articles to his credit and is a regular keynote presenter at corporate and trade association conferences across North America. He can be reached at 800-839-1520. For a treasure trove of additional information and ideas, visit his Partnering University Web Site at http://www.Rigsbee.com or http://www.EdRigsbee.com

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