I just received fantastic information from a cause I support and I have been asked to share it with a major advocate of the organization.  A compelling report shows the organization to be performing exceedingly well when compared to peer institutions.  I was ready to forward the document via email and add a quick message to the advocate explaining how they can clearly see the organization’s success when viewed on the attached spreadsheet.  Then a colleague spoke-up.  My co-worker suggested that an email seems like a rather small return when sharing such valuable data.  Why not frame the information with few detailed points that the cause believes is important and then ask the advocate for their interpretation of the data?  Gain their insights on the benchmarking numbers.  Make them a partner in creating the findings of the report.  Take our joint efforts and share them with a greater audience.

My first hunch was to treat the advocate as a recipient.  My colleague’s focus was on transforming the advocate into a partner.  Partners make for a personalized relationship.  Partners are invested in an enterprise’s success.  Partnerships cannote a more formal relationship.  Recipients are omnipresent.  Being a recipient requires filtering information before one even decides which emails are even worth considering.  Partners provide advice and rise far above recipients.

Do you partner with key individuals and organizations or is everyone a recipient?  Can you partners engage each other in dialogue?  Do you listen to your partners recommendations?