Partnerships

I heard a speaker say recently - ‘When we’re young we have big dreams and no resources to accomplish them; when we’re adults we have pitiful dreams and all the power in the world to accomplish them’. Often time we can accomplish our dreams with the aid of a partner. Sometimes it’s a mutual goal, sometimes not. Sometimes the two parties are equal in status, sometimes not. The next two weeks I’m going to write about professional partnerships.

Often we think about partnerships a boyfriend/girlfriend or romantic partner. Those relationships are important, but for sake of this blog, consider these partnerships: mentor/mentee, teacher/student, sales lead/salesperson, manager/artist and head coach/ junior coach. Many experiences are available for two people to work toward a goal and create an amazing experience.

In my own college/graduate experience, I’ve had an amazing opportunity to work on research with distinguished professors. While an undergrad at Northern Illinois University (NIU), I worked a semester doing cognitive psychology research. My influence was minimal at first. But, just sitting on weekly meetings and discussing an reading tool/game for kids was an amazing experience. At NIU I also had the experience of coding data for an I/O psychology professor, which lead me in a whole new direction in psychology.

In graduate studies, I also developed research, this time working more independently, and eventually designing my own thesis on the study of ‘efficacy and workplace commitment’. Here I had the opportunity to have unique experiences with a host of different professors with individual research focuses in the field of I/O psychology. In graduate school, the level of discussion and engagement is much deeper, and much more fulfilling . All of this started as a small idea with me just wanting to get involved in psychology research.

The funny thing is, I know so many people who say. Well, I’m just an undergraduate. Or, the thinks 'the things i'm interested in are “too out there”, “too boring”, “too non-academic”, fill in the blank!'

Not even a step is taken before people start retreating at the idea. So don’t let being inexperienced stop you from forming partnerships – none of us would ever grow we just stopped there. You don’t have to go it alone. There are all types of organizations to be a part of, things to do, connections to be made, and yes, partnerships to be created.

In these next two weeks, I’ll share antidotes pertaining from the bestseller “Power of 2: Elements of Great Managing” by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller.