Out of Your Head - Into Your Heart

I attended a networking luncheon today where the guest speaker was a life coach and personal friend of mine. Her topic was about getting "unstuck" and she said something that  really resonated with me - to get "unstuck" you have to "get out of your head and into your heart".

What does "getting into your heart" have to do with alliance management?

Being good at managing alliances requires passion. I'd argue that being good at anything requires passion. Passion is what keeps you going when the going gets tough and things seem hopeless. You have to have something in you that motivates you, that makes you excited about attacking the day to day challenges.

Finally, as I've stated in other blog posts, fundamentally, alliance managers are leaders. I recently read "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" by Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM. It chronicles his turnaround of IBM and reads like a manifesto on leadership. In his book, Gertstner states -

Passion is the single most important element of personal leadership. I believe managers at all levels of a company should strive to develop the emotional side of their leadership skills.

When you demonstrate to your internal and external stakeholders the passion you have about the alliance and its possibilities, you pull a powerful lever of influence. Alliance management is all about influencing without authority. Passion is one of the best tools at your disposal.

Note that I'm not talking about manufactured passion. I'm talking about genuine, in your bones, "would you shut up about this already" passion!

Passion is infectious, and it's critical if you want to lead.