Lessons in founding a global circular economy company with my sister.

What might you learn about working relationships from sisters, besties and founders?

By?Ashleigh Morris , Co-founder and CEO,?Coreo

People may not naturally assume that challenging the status quo, reshaping the economy and influencing high-powered boards globally is the work of two young women who are also sisters. But so far, as co-founders of global circular economy firm Coreo, we have cut through the byzantine world of big business by leveraging real relationships.??

Jaine and I were born only one year apart. So we have always lived in each other’s pockets, each other’s wardrobes and each other’s shadows. Our relationship is built on abundant love and brutal honesty. On sharp-edged competitiveness and no-holds-barred vulnerability. On throwing down neministic challenges and licking wounds with dog-eared loyalty. The world we have built for ourselves has built in us the capability to fight for a better world for everyone.

Leadership has entered a phase where human skills are valued. Real relationships are paramount. Cognitive diversity is imperative. And empathy, trust, vulnerability and collaboration are the reasons people keep showing up. The past two years have tested even the strongest leadership teams. With blurred boundaries and shifting values, many have begun to treat each other more like families. Right now, employee expectations have changed. I feel we can all learn from the lessons born of the intensive relationship that comes from sharing a womb. Jaine and I work incredibly well together, but it’s a grey area. We are colleagues who know each other’s kitchens. Collaborators who know each other’s weaknesses. Confidants who know each other’s pain points… sound familiar? The world of work is no longer transactional, for anyone. Authenticity is a non-negotiable leadership trait. So how do we get real with 'real' working relationships?

We have some advice.

1. We fight.

And throughout our teenage years, wow, did we fight. But our arguments always have space for multiple perspectives and as a result, both Jaine and I have developed a taste for humble pie, and the ability to readily change our opinions to accommodate new information. The inclination to disagree and have your opinion heard comes naturally to most siblings but is harder to master amongst work colleagues where the stakes are higher and the stakeholders more tenuous. Blood relations often flow thicker than ‘bloody work relationships’! And too often, bold opinions or passionate ideas stay below the surface.

2. Being best friends doesn’t always mean being friendly.

Friends say nice things to each other. Good friends tell each other the truth. Best friends tell each other everything. And friends who also happen to be sisters and co-founders tell each other things they would usually never admit, even to themselves. The movement to bring ‘whole of self to work’ is a brave way of showing up that I fully endorse. Jaine and I don’t have a whole-of-self approach so much as a whole-of-life approach. Sometimes it’s hard to know intimately how much the other is trying to save for a house deposit, or how much the other might be hoping to get pregnant, but ultimately, it’s harder not to know. People dynamics colour every workplace, every interaction and every action. With colleagues, we often don’t understand the full picture. We make incorrect assumptions and draw half-baked conclusions. With family, when we ask “how are you?” the answer is not always ‘fine’. The only unknowns are those that haven’t happened yet, so risk is mitigated and in an uncertain operating environment a large degree of ambiguity is removed. How can colleagues find a way to be real with each other? I’d take the ‘whole’ of my teammate rather than the ‘hole’ left by what they don’t feel safe bringing to the table, any day.?

3. We never take each other for granted.

My heart breaks when I hear families tell a story of a rift, a breakdown in communication or tearing of values. I hold the knowledge close to my heart that the love Jaine and I have for each other is not a birthright, but a do-right. If we become complacent, the respect and trust we have worked so hard to achieve will crumple. If we loved each other blindly, we wouldn’t be able to challenge each other the way we do. There is always a little skin in the game. We know that either of us could walk away from this partnership at any time. But what keeps us here is the silent agreement that we believe in each other 100%. People that are able to question each other’s answers without ever questioning each other’s value ask better questions. We are free to fail for the very reason that we believe in each other’s ultimate ability to succeed. Teams that lift each other up will always find a way to fly.?

4. We bring diversity to every conversation.

Where I think in systems, Jaine thinks in story. Where I am abundantly optimistic, Jaine gives me a reality check. Where I naturally want to take on dominant power structures, Jaine is looking for community empowerment. As opposed to being yin and yang, we are double the trouble. Because we are constantly, hungrily learning from each other. As co-founders, our cognitive diversity has been essential and has allowed us to identify new opportunities, challenge each other to innovate and build on each other’s ideas. We are connected by our gut intuition but split by very different ways of thinking. Ultimately this brings one big heart and two big brains to the problem-solving scenario. How does your team bring cognitive diversity to the table around an aligned values system?

5. Here for the long haul, baby.

As sisters, we are always thinking in the long term. Whether it’s our wellbeing, our commercial growth model, or the clients we decide to work with, we are always thinking in terms of lifetimes, if not generations. Family is forever, and the impact of a family business is more naturally viewed in these terms than in quarterly reviews. How can companies tap into longer-term, bigger picture metrics around environmental and social impact, mental health, investment, growth? When will we realise we need to think in terms of decades and centuries… if we want our grandkids to live in the world we hope for them?

Ultimately, family business is the business. Workplace relationships are currently still reliant on an outdated, hierarchical system. Our interactions are constructed according to power dynamics. What we can and can’t say changes depending on whom we are talking to and the situation we are speaking in. In reality though, away from the office layout, the zoom introductions, the salary levels, all working relationships are much more similar to Jaine and mine. One big family in the business of building a better world through circular economies, if we'd just stop talking in circles and cut to the chase.