As we go forward on our journey to the extraordinary, our life and activity gets to intermingle with that of many others. Some of these people are Godsend. Some others are hells secret agents, on assignment to stop us from fulfilling our purpose. With some of these we forge alliances. With others, we simply dissociate. The point to ponder over is, whether our actions in this regard are the right ones.

Carlos Wallace, author of “Life Is Not Complicated-You Are: Turning Your Biggest Disappointments into Your Greatest Blessings” said “The company you keep determines how others view you. Identify with mediocrity and you will be labelled sub-par. Collaborate with questionable people and your reputation becomes suspect. Guilt by association can end a career, hurt your business and cost you friends. Choose alliances wisely or you may be condemned for someone else’s sins.”

Understanding the consequences, this prospect of accommodating and entertaining wrong people in one’s life, might make some shy away from other people altogether. But, that attitude will be detrimental to our interests. Take a look at what the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.  “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken..” We need to see here, that the Bible states “Two are better than one…”, stressing the necessity and power of good alliances. This ratifies God’s statement in Genesis 2:18 “It is not good that man should be alone”. These verses also promise reward, help, protection, empowerment and the like to those that are part of the right kind of alliance.

“Significant accomplishments often require strategic alliances”

Yohan Philip (The Pursuit of Extraordinary)

You can’t just insist that people need to be “right” to enter into an alliance with you. You need to focus on being “right” for them too. Encouragement, effort, earnings and the like has to flow for mutual benefit. As late American poet Edwin Markham said “There is a destiny that makes us brothers, No one goes his way alone; All that we send into the lives of others, comes back into our own”. A successful alliance cannot be a one way street.

At the workplace, employers closely monitor the improvement and output of their employees. The benefits of having a person as an employee will be reviewed. Even though friendships might form amongst employees and their superiors, the longevity of the alliance will be decided by their beneficence. The other side stands to be true too. When employees start noticing that the organization benefits from their efforts, but they do not, they may lose morale, loyalty and the like and decrease in productivity. They may even start distancing themselves from the organization, until it results in a resignation, so that they can move towards a better prospect. The majority of people alive on the face of the planet have at least a tiny portion of self-interest, and dissatisfaction in this area can end up breaking their alliance with their workplace.

This principle can be manifestly seen in nature as well. In a virus-host relationship, where the virus keeps living off the host, the end result will be the death of either one or both of these entities. However, in a symbiotic relationship, all involved benefit from the relationship, and this ensures its continuity.

Always be a “symbiont” and not a virus.

In late 2014, Spotify and Uber entered into an alliance. Users could now listen to their own ‘Spotify Premium Playlists’, when travelling in an Uber. As a result, Uber was able to offer a more personalized experience for its passengers, and it provided users a taste of Spotify that encouraged them to upgrade and pay, for the premium version. The alliance benefitted both companies by increasing their visibility and giving customer’s an extra reason to choose them, over their competition.

This brings us to the question “How do you go about forming the right alliances?”.

Well, I want to first say that alliances come in many forms. Marriage is an alliance. Friendships are alliances. There are alliances formed to meet business objectives. I have penned down specific insight on the subjects of family life, relationships and the like in other pocket books published by our organisation. Please find below a list of 7 steps that I believe provide a general guideline for the formation of most alliances.

Alliances require Audits…

Discern between the helpful and the harmful…

Disconnect from the destructive to draw closer to your destiny.

Yohan Philip (The Pursuit of Extraordinary)

1. The starting point would be to define the purpose for the alliance. Ask yourself what you are looking for, from it. Define objectives as specifically as possible.
2. The next step would be to qualify your alliance partner. Not everyone will be able to aid you in the achievement of your purpose. Some might have the ability, but lack character you can associate with. Define your prospective partner’s necessary abilities and qualities.
3. The third step is to understand that the longevity of the alliance depends on its being beneficial to all involved. An alliance, by definition, is a union or association between parties, desiring to mutually benefit from it. Clearly spell out the benefits and how it will be disbursed.
4. The fourth step I would suggest would be to set standards of behaviour and action for all parties involved in the alliance. What needs to be done by each party involved, what should not be done and the like have to be clearly laid out.
5. Defining accountability norms help too. Reporting, Review and Remedy are three R’s that keep things running in long term relationships.
6. Procedure to resolve conflict has to be laid down and adhered to if the alliance is to tide over troubled times. It is important to evaluate and focus on the benefits of keeping the alliance together when trying to resolve conflict.
7. Finally, as some conflicts and problems may end up unsolvable, deciding how to amicably dissolve an alliance, if the need arises, might be profitable.

Clarity on these matters and adherence to decisions regarding these is a non-negotiable in the formation of good alliances.

Scottish American industrialist, Philanthropist and steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie’s self written epitaph is one that merits contemplation. It reads thus: “Here lies a man who knew how to enlist in his service better men than himself ”. Even though not inscribed on his tombstone, it remains as Andrew’s testimony to the ‘success key’ called ‘Alliances’

From the book “The Pursuit of Extraordinary” by Yohan Philip