Don't Try This at Home
In the most recent IBM CEO Study, top performing companies were more than 28% more likely to leverage partnerships for innovation than their under performing counterparts. Top performing firms value collaborative skills and recognize that recruiting and developing people with these skills are critical to their competitive success.
My boss is fond of saying that Alliance management is a profession - not a hobby. Alliance Management requires a specific skill set. Good alliance managers don't grow on trees, they are not a dime a dozen. Good alliance managers have good business savvy, strong conflict management skills, good "EQ"- emotional intelligence, and strong political and organization navigation skills.
You wouldn't put an unskilled sales rep to manage a strategic customer account, so why would you take someone who couldn't cut it in sales and put them on a strategic partnership?
To drive innovation through alliances, bring in the professionals!
