Two Strategic Mistakes in Business Partnerships

Partnerships are still built between people, and so the laws of psychology and human nature apply to them.

Make these two mistakes at the same time, and you can put yourself in a vulnerable spot — quietly starting the countdown to the day your partners decide to move against you and take your assets.

1. Positioning yourself as the person who makes the decisions alone.

2. Getting too close to a partner — letting him into your everyday life, your home, your family.

The moment someone realizes that you are the one making the decisions, you turn yourself into a potential target whenever things get contentious — as the saying goes, “Don’t play the hand, play the man.” If your view differs from your partner’s, the temptation to work on you personally — to exploit your individual weaknesses, vices and attachments — becomes very strong.

And when you get close to someone, sooner or later he starts to see not just your weaknesses but, no matter how brilliant you are, the aura of your power fades for him, because in daily life you’re just like everyone else. Your worth in his eyes as a friend may grow, but as a business partner it can drop. As an analogy, picture some “Mikhail Petrovich” who commands the fates of thousands from the screen in a confident voice, and “Mikhan,” whom you’ve known for years, drink beer with, go to the banya with — though, of course, it’s one and the same man. It’s just that the first one feels like an unscalable cliff, and the second is an ordinary guy who makes plenty of mistakes in life, and anyway: “What makes him better than the rest?”

These mistakes plant questions in people’s heads about your unique value as a partner with practical ideas — and about where it hurts most to hit you to get what they want.

Here’s to thriving partnerships! 😎