Can we continue to be a team or should one of us go?

We’ve built an excellent business together but my partner is exasperating. Can we continue to be a team or should one of us go?

I snuck into the movies last week to see The September Issue. The film is about the publication of the September 2008 issue of US Vogue, but the real story is how the unlikely combination of two very different women has not only propelled them to the top of the fashion industry, but has kept them there for 20 years.

It’s a true story. Anna Wintour is the Editor In Chief of US Vogue and Grace Coddington is her Creative Director. In the movie you see Anna as a decisive (if not somewhat ruthless) business-like perfectionist whereas Grace appears to be a gentle fashion genius. There is a permanent air of conflict and tension between the two protagonists. No tantrums, just a no-nonsense approach, which means that, at least between the two of them, feelings aren’t allowed to get in the way of priorities. They make a formidable team.

Away from the world of high fashion, this morning I took a call from a business owner whose business partner is driving him crackers. I’ve known the business for many years and while the two guys are very successful, it is a brutal relationship. John phoned me because he had had more than enough conflict and was thinking of calling time on their business.

During our conversation we both agreed that there are some fantastic examples of businesses whose very success is down to the fact that they are run by two profoundly different people. And we then discussed how the partners in these businesses had somehow found a way to rise above the irritations and make working together enjoyable, or at the very least palatable.

John and I decided that unlikely duos work best when they:

1. Agree on the overall direction and strategy of the business and understand what is really important.
2. Are very confident in the unique skills they bring to the business.
3. Have clear responsibilities.
4. Talk straight to one another.
5. Keep conflict at a business level not a personal level.
6. Put on a united front for customers.
7. Refuse to allow employees to play them off against each other.
8. Are passionate about the success of the business.
9. Agree who the ultimate decision maker is.

The last point is an interesting one. Even the businesses with “joint managing directors” we noted bestow one of them with the ultimate authority for decision-making.

Reinvigorated John decided that he wouldn’t leave the business. Realising that the tension between him and his partner stems from the fact that he plays the role of business curator to his partner’s role of creator, he decided that a robust discussion with his partner should sort everything out. A technique it seems that Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington worked out 20 years ago.

Julia Bickerstaff’s expertise is in helping businesses grow profitably. She runs two businesses: Butterfly Coaching, a small advisory firm with a unique approach to assisting SMEs with profitable growth; and The Business Bakery, which helps kitchen table tycoons build their best businesses. Julia is the author of “How to Bake a Business” and was previously a partner at Deloitte. She is a chartered accountant and has a degree in economics from The London School of Economics (London University).

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