Collaboration is not 'won and done' - it’s a lifestyle.

When I attended The Payments Association’s annual #PAY360 ?conference at Old Billingsgate, in London.

I was very excited before the event because I had the objective of learning more about this ever-changing industry as well as networking for partnership. Meeting close friends for dinner was going to be the highlight.

The culture I have observed in the Payments ecosystem is about partnership, collaboration, and community, rather than rivalry and bent towards defensive protectionism; the transactional ‘won and done’, the win-lose nature of one vendor versus another. This made me think of why win-lose is so pervasive in business, combined with the greatest challenge many clients often ask me:

How to network without coming across as desperate, insincere, or rude?

This week I am giving the punchline first. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson,

“Your actions are so loud I can’t hear your words.”

As a keen student of human nature and psychology, this is one of the guiding principles I wish I had known when I was first starting out in my career. I came from a family where keeping to your word was the norm, so I entered the workplace na?ve in the extreme.

Over time, after significant setbacks, I realised that the key was to observe the actions of an individual, leader or customer far closer than their words.

I often advise my clients on how to make the best career choice, usually at a point of significant career inflexion.

One of my consistent observations is that cultural fit is a vital component and the relationship you have with your line manager is a key success factor. Knowing what their values are is key.

Look at the values statement of most large companies; respect, equal opportunity and honesty will be there, often with the headline:

“People are our most important asset.”

Interesting to note, that these values are usually required by the incoming employee to display but in my experience, not often replicated in return. Many employers will argue that a natural power imbalance exists in the employee/employer relationship, as they are paying the salaries.

In a pragmatic world where people are the ones who create and deliver the innovation to customers that in turn drives revenue, there is a need for a third route, rather than the balance lying with only the employer or the employee.

In his book, The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, has proposed an alliance as a more honest conversation and agreement for the networked technology world.

“As much as companies might yearn for a stable environment and employees might yearn for lifetime employment, the world has irrevocably changed.

We also can’t keep going the way we’ve been going. Trust in the business world (as measured by the proportion of employees who say they have a “high level of trust in management and the organization” they work for), is near an all-time low.”

“The most entrepreneurial employees want to establish “personal brands” that stand apart from their employers. It’s a rational, necessary response to the end of lifetime employment.”

Crafting specific, time-bound project “tours of duty”, with measurable results and an honest conversation about what happens when that “tour” is completed, brings candour to the present situation.

Many companies refer to their business as a family, I think that is dishonest. After all, I can’t sack my daughter because of her poor table manners (in all fairness, her table manners are getting better...)! In fact, as Reid Hoffman goes on to say:

?“…a business is far more like a sports team than a family.”

Having had the honour of interviewing several Olympians and stellar leaders, honesty is at the forefront of high performance, and candid, direct conversations bring accountability to a whole group. That means between team peers and players to coaches and coaches back to players. This challenging elite, yet inclusive environment, adapts to the changing landscape.

The experience at #PAY360 was one of the most natural, collaborative, and productive business experiences I have had the pleasure of enjoying during my career. My learnings are:

·???????Create meaningful connections – as?Tony Craddock reminds us, “Your relationship success is directly correlated to how open and friendly you are.”

·???????Be there – being present opens up strategic serendipity. The energy and vibe are inspiring.

·???????Payments are about humans, the technology is often already here - biometrics and bots are examples, however, trust is the key driver for scalable human adoption.

·???????And finally, as my close friends reminded me at dinner, “Trusted relationships are there to be shared.”

My challenge to you this week is to observe your up-and-coming conversations and ask yourself when “Actions are so loud I can’t hear your words”?applies.

Our purpose at Accelerated Career Results is to transform Payments leaders’ mindsets, confidence, and results. For them to achieve their potential through the power of life-enhancing connections, shared experiences, and collaborative learning.

We achieve this by unlocking the ‘latent ability’ within talented individuals and teams. If you have found this article valuable, please like, re-share and pass it on to a colleague or to your trusted network whom it could help at this stage of their leadership career.

If you are a decency led leader, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have a challenge and want to work with a trusted partner, to [email protected]