CHAPTER 16 PARTNERSHIP MANAGER

While your broker of trust can take on many shapes – remember, it’s a mindset first, and it might be an actual person, too – you will also need a few flesh and blood people to manage your freshly forged partnership. There is the CEO, who will partner with one or more CEOs. There is the broker of trust, who will arrange for the right CEOs to meet. And then, for every CEO that is part of this courtship, there’s the behind-the-scenes guy. The one who goes the distance. Enter the partnership manager, the guy or gal every metasystem needs. Kind of like an account manager, it’s his or her job to keep everyone at the table happy. To do that, growing the right mindset won’t do. You’ll need action.

For this action to run smoothly, you’ll need to choose your partnership manager wisely. Let it be someone who understands what’s at stake, knows the difference between his role and that of the broker of trust, and is dedicated to the job full-time. That job is rather easily described: it’s being responsible for all partner-related activities. Easier said than done, though, for this means turning outside-in opportunities into sustainable partnerships. Your partnership manager – let’s call him PM – is the spider in the web. Someone from inside your company who acts as a manager, a connector, and an ambassador. And maybe a bit of an evangelist as well.

About that job description

Looking a little more closely at the PM’s job description, it becomes clear that it comprises three big chunks. The first is about bringing the outside in. A PM is a consistent networker with a nose for opportunity, always looking for ways to make the metasystem stronger. And when he smells one, he knows just how to hook it and keep it hooked. This means your PM doesn’t get cold feet when things are “different” or “unconventional”. This is the guy who doesn’t bat an eyelash when disruption is mentioned – that’s exactly when his ears prick up. He knows when innovations are potentially game-changing and understands that these aren’t found inside the company walls. To find them, he goes out beyond the realm of your company. Way out, to explore and let serendipity work its magic. Next, he incorporates these disruptive agents, working them right into the business strategy.

Looking outward is important, yet focus is, too. Just like a relationship, a partnership needs to know where it’s headed to make it work. Is it marriage you’re after or does a “friends with benefits” arrangement suit you just fine? Either way, all parties need to be on the same page. The PM is here to articulate a clear goal for everyone. It is his responsibility to keep that goal crystalline at all times, so the partnership can grow and flourish. To harvest all the potential in the metasystem, your PM will have to make sure everyone’s eyes remain on the same prize.

Something for your mind, your body – and your heart

We’ve delineated what your PM’s responsibilities are. Taking things one step further, let’s look at how this translates into actual to-dos. Here’s what you might use when drafting that vacancy notice. The first part talks about what your PM will actually be doing. Next, we’ve listed the skills he needs. And last but not least, we’ve profiled your PM’s mindset. While you won’t find a candidate who checks all the boxes, it is important to find someone who matches this portrait in spirit if you want your metasystem to work.

BODY / TASKS

Every day, your PM … •Is responsible for running and overseeing all partnerships operations •Bridges the gap between your company and its different partners, ensuring there is no gap at all •Scouts interesting partnerships with the potential to drive your company’s strategy forward •Guides the partners by talking to them daily and helps all partners navigate each other’s company network •Sets up and hosts events to tighten the bonds between all partners, but also to bring in and assess new potential partners •Coordinates all communication within and about the partnership •Follows up on defined KPIs and measures the results and impact of the partnerships

BRAIN / SKILLS

Your PM knows how to … •Make things concrete and tangible, like an operational manager •Set up partnerships that last and are built on trust, and has a resume to show for it •Draft a partnership agreement and negotiate its legal and financial dimensions •Build business cases and scope the ROI of a project •Navigate the world of start-ups and scale-ups •Communicate as well as negotiate •Make sure internal stakeholders from all partners are on board with the master plan

HEART / MINDSET

Your PM is the kind of person who … •Is curious by design •Plays for the team, not himself. He’s a diplomat who brings everyone at the table despite their differences •Radiates energy and motivates people with his enthusiasm •Connects with people, and not just on LinkedIn •Is trustworthy •Sees opportunity in difficulty and answers problems with solutions •Communicates directly and openly. No beating around the bush

Find the PM sweet spot

Pictured above is your dream PM. In truth, though, people aren’t perfect. They tend to oscillate on a grid between several sides of themselves. What you’re looking for in your candidate is the sweet spot. Someone who balances the urge to go out and see what’s interesting with his knowledge of internal projects. On the other axis, your PM preferably floats in between talking strategy with the upper management all the time versus dining in the cafeteria talking to just about everyone, seeing the potential in the smallest of ideas. Somewhere in the middle, you’ll find your guy or gal. Here are four types you need to avoid. We have described the extreme versions for you.

The suck-up

A PM who spends too much time in the metasystem’s own little world, wanting to please the upstream management.

The micromanager

A PM who’s all about managing his team, but forgets about reaching out to external parties and his own upper management.

The party animal

Instead of managing partnerships, this one does nothing but network externally, forsaking his internal duties while he’s at it.

The hobbyist

Lacking focus, this is the type who’s involved in tons of small external projects with little impact. Aka he’s missing out on opportunities all over the place.

Nobody’s perfect, of course. Your aim is to appoint a PM who has what it takes to place your partnership at the heart of your strategy. For him to succeed, keep in mind he’ll need a mandate as well as sufficient freedom to operate. Don’t burden him with layers of management, but allow him to report directly to the CEO, who he’ll need to tandem with. As for the partnership strategy, this should be regularly reviewed by the steering committee. Embed the partnership at the highest level for decent feedback by allotting it a fixed time slot at every SteerCo meeting. And who better than the PM himself to provide the ladies and gentlemen of the board with a quick round-up?

Your PM is not your broker of trust

A final note on how your broker of trust and your PM relate to one another. While they are both about owning the partnership and making it work, they are fundamentally different. And they are not the same person, either.

The premier task of your PM is to act as your company’s ambassador. He represents your brand or organization in the metasystem you’ve set up and defends your interests in the partnerships. This means he knows what’s happening in your company at all times. He understands what the company needs, but also what it can offer – and how to use this intel to make deals between companies that are beneficial to all. Not just the involved parties, but the world at large.

Your PM steps in when a potential partner is brought to him by a broker of trust, not before. While the broker does all the prep work and massaging, your PM is the man to seal the deal. Once this is done, he manages the relationship as long as it lives. Let him court the other side, woo it, and then wow it. Because just like in relationships, a bit of romance doesn’t hurt to make things last. Of course, if both partners know each other well and trust one another, you may not need a broker to facilitate the initial contact. Your PM can get to work, immediately.

If your PM is basically an ambassador, this makes your broker of trust a matchmaker, a mediator between parties and a counselor later on in the process. He’s there before the PM hits the scene, facilitating a link and building up the level of trust before the PM works out the specifics.

The broker of trust detects common goals, knows how to handle everyone’s sensitivities and is discrete in what he shares with each party. He brings parties together by translating each of their languages into a common lingua franca.

While your broker’s task is to connect the dots, his mandate goes further than that. We’re serious when we describe him as a matchmaker. Your broker is cupid: he’s here to bring the parties together and make them fall in love with each other.

Chat, date, marry

If all goes according to plan, you’ll have three phases in building your metasystem and three key roles.

1. Chat

Acting as a kind of live matchmaker, the broker of trust brings together two or more CEOs so they can get to know each other, chat about their personal and company ambitions, discover they have a lot of challenges and aspirations in common and get all excited about a mutual journey.

2. Date

If sparks are flying around, the broker of trust will facilitate the dating phase between the different CEOs. At this point, they find out exactly how well-mannered the other party is and how much they are committed to this relationship. The CEOs should be using their heads to find that common purpose, but mostly, they should be using their gut to gauge if they can trust each other. As soon as the date phase is promising, the first one who gets a text message from the CEO saying how it went is the PM.

3. Marry

If the CEOs agree about the long term and where they’re headed, they each call upon their appointed PM to organize the next steps. It doesn’t have to be all bells and whistles, by the way. It might be a “friends with benefits” deal or a living apart together thing, too. No matter how loose or tight both parties decide the ties to be, the PMs will do the actual work before the deal can be sealed with each CEO’s signature.

In short? Appoint the right broker and PMs. Make sure everyone’s goals are truly aligned and partners can create an added value for one another. Respect the timing. Do all that, and you’ve got yourself a smooth sailing metasystem.