Collaboration is one of those words that we are afraid of saying we are not in favor of. In many respects it’s like apple pie or mom, just one of those things that we all should embrace.
So, the question becomes why is collaboration so rare and why is it so hard to institute in our practices?
I was having a conversation the other day with a friend of mine and we were talking about a group of people where collaboration should be the rule. As it turns out, only about 25% of the people in this group practice collaboration. I have a couple of thoughts about collaboration that might shed light on this issue.
First, we are afraid that if we collaborate then we will lose a certain amount of business. This is a rational fear if you believe and have evidence that there is only so much business. Those who are afraid of losing business tend to live in a world of scarcity. We often believe that if we don’t get ours, then there won’t be enough to go around.
Second, if we collaborate we will be seen as being weak by our Clients. This certainly is a reasonable fear. Our Clients expect us to be “experts”. When we bring in others to work with us, we might not be seen as that expert anymore. I believe that if we set expectations for collaboration from the beginning, we will not have as much an issue with our Clients not seeing us as the expert.
Third, the problem is not big enough to afford collaboration. Collaboration is expensive for the Client. Unless the payoff is large enough, there is not a good reason for the Client to fund a collaborative effort.
Fourth, and probably the most important, we don’t know how to collaborate. I believe that collaboration starts at home. How many of us truly involve everyone in our firm in decision and Client service in a collaborative manner. Most of the time we want our co-workers to do their job and not make too much noise about it.
The more we can build an internal collaborative culture, the better chance we get to practice collaboration. We then have the opportunity to move from collaboration within our firm to collaboration with our Clients. Finally, we are now ready and able to collaborate with the outside world.
I think it makes sense for us to consider practicing internally in a collaborative effort. The more we do this, the better our collaboration will be with others.
Josh Patrick
Filed under: Ethics, Marketing, Wealth Management | Tagged: collaboration, cooperation, fear
