Week 23.52 To Powers of Two

My parents just celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary, so I am thinking a lot about the power of partnerships this week. I have been reading the book Powers of Two by Joshua Wolf Shenk, which explores the understanding of how two people working as one can produce outcomes in a way that no single person can. I have been reflecting on many fantastic creative partners I have collaborated with, including Nick Neubauer, denis piel, Jane Kosstrin, Paul Owen, and Marshall Goldsmith. While I could not articulate it at first, I now recognize the work Jacquelyn Lane and I are doing at 100 Coaches Agency is a creative partnership. In June of 2022, my coach, Gene Early, PhD, and I started to explore the idea of creative partnership and its potential for a different kind of expansion in work. That led Jacquelyn and me to codify that in the company's Relationship First philosophy, which became more crystalized in our book Becoming Coachable that we wrote in partnership with Marshall. For my final newsletter of the year, I thought I would take a moment to reflect on how two people working in a creative partnership create exponential growth, how an earned life is also about the impact you have on others, and how much more fulfilling life is when lived in the power of two.

From Powers of Two: "We all know intuitively that life happens in close connection with other people... The pair is the primary creative unit. The dyad is also the most fluid and flexible of relationships. Two people can basically make their own society on the go." I would add that two people can create entire worlds, at least that is my experience. There was a time when I thought I could "do it all," and I soon realized that there were some severe limitations to that strategy. It takes work to scale yourself. Even if you have many talents, no one has every talent. And no one can see their own blind spots (after all, they are, by definition, blind spots. Over time, I have realized the value of creative partnership is the expansive ideas that come from intimate collaboration, the magic of the alchemy when two different minds think as one. 

From How to Know a Person (David Brooks), "A generative person gives others the gift of admiration—seeing them for the precious creatures they are. She gives the gift of patience—understanding that people are always developing. He gives them the gift of presence." The beauty of being in a creative partnership is the liberating experience of seeing another person entirely and being fully seen yourself. Within the security of the dyad, there is trust and fearlessness. It is a safe place to explore boundaries and test theories. It is a place where failure is not an issue because nothing is considered a failure so long as there is growth. The creative partnership allows for fearless fragility, the removal of the exoskeleton that enables unimagined growth. 

In many ways, the coaching relationship is like a creative partnership. A great coach seeks to see the coachee fully and without judgment. David Brooks writes about how wise people witness our story and are good confidants, like a coach. Creative partners, like coaches, seek clarification, not criticism, and build ideas up rather than tear them down. They help you process your thoughts and emotions–expanding, contributing, and challenging while supporting the collective work. True creative partnerships may be rare, but a great coaching relationship can offer many benefits, especially for those who have not found their perfect partner elsewhere. 

In life and leadership, everything is better together. A narrative floats around in the Western culture of the lone genius and the solo entrepreneur. Whenever I have found myself with those people, they  feel immense pressure to hold everything together, often making them lonely and anxious. People with great creative partners feel inspired to do things they would never have thought possible. Gene gave me a powerful insight that whenever I set a goal or objective, I am actually creating a self-limiting belief in what I believe is possible. This past year has proven that statement more accurate than I had imagined. As 2023 comes to a close, I am so grateful to all the people with whom I have had the good fortune to call partners over the years. I think that all flourishing leadership is "me and" and "us" leadership, and I’m more convinced than ever that great leaders never succeed alone. I fully embrace that the power of two people working in a creative partnership is not 1+1 or even 2x; rather, we take our work to the Powers of Two and drive exponential growth for those we love and lead. 

With love, gratitude, and wonder

Scott

The Best Talent Is Bringing Out Talent in Others by Bruce Kasanoff

When I was at Wharton, a successful entrepreneur told my class, “A superior leader is a person who can bring ordinary people together to achieve extraordinary results.” Over the years, I’ve come to realize that his lesson works for everybody, not just leaders. It works in all walks of life, whether you are able to help a friend, guide a student or nudge a neighbor in the right direction. Twelve years ago, seeking to find a better balance between my work and personal lives, I set out to formulate a simple credo that would guide my actions 365 days a year. A big part of my motivation was the desire to help others in a meaningful way. I came up with this sentence:

Be generous and expert, trustworthy and clear, open-minded and adaptable, persistent and present.

The single best way to empower another person is to empty your mind (and agenda) to listen to him or her. I don’t mean listen in a half-hearted, distracted manner. I mean listen as though nothing else in the world matters to you. When you do this, you start to understand what really makes the other person tick. Often times, you can also pick up on what they aren’t saying and for what reason.

Teeming With Teams by David S. Cohen

The interplay between teamwork, innovation, and collaboration is complex. Organizational culture, leadership, and industry dynamics all influence the companies’ success with teamwork. While there may not be a direct quantifiable correlation like the Hemline Index, the value of teamwork in fostering innovation and collaboration is widely recognized and accepted in the business and academic communities. 

Teams have their time and place. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. We can’t always impose that structure on an individual who doesn’t work well on a team. Sometimes, I’ve seen teamwork come up as the answer when group work would do. I have also seen rank-and-file employees working in teams be critical of executives who don’t work themselves as a team despite the leaders being vocal and passionate about teamwork. Still, each executive member remained focused on their numbers and individual division’s success.

The concept of teams can be overdone and excessively utilized. It does not fit all situations or all people. Sometimes, we throw the word around loosely when we mean something else entirely. We must challenge the prevailing assumption that teams always make things better and more efficient.

Beyond Words: Emotion AI's Revolutionary Impact On Professional Communication by Rhett Power

Communication is an important part of everyone’s professional day-to-day. Whether you’re an entrepreneur building a business, a manager overseeing customer service, a doctor interacting with patients, or a government worker reviewing intelligence data. Communication goes beyond sending emails or having a conversation, and those who are experts in their communication understand that reading the other person and responding to them in an appropriate tone is oftentimes more important than the words being exchanged. Emotional intelligence (EQ) and awareness is helpful here but oftentimes when we focus on EQ its in regards to our own emotions. What about someone else’s emotions and intentions?

Emotions cognitive AI can distinguish between natural and synthetic voices, as well as detect voice variances in real-time speaking engagements, which helps with voice authentication in potential deep fake videos. Emotion AI is here to help us all communicate better. Whether it’s in sales, customer service, HR, healthcare, or even on social media interacting with our neighbors, we can all benefit from stronger communication skills and utilizing the technology that can help set us up for success and, ultimately, happiness.