The Growth Mindset

Chapter 4Leaders Collaborate Effectively

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”

—George Bernard Shaw

Growth is impossible for most organizations without effective collaboration. Leaders with a growth mindset embrace collaboration. They know what they don't know, aren't afraid to seek help, and aren't afraid to hire people smarter than they are. Of course, effective collaboration requires a strong culture that rewards and recognizes people that are strong collaborators. Without a well‐thought‐out process collaboration becomes much more difficult. The future will not reward the solo act as much as a well‐organized team that enjoys working together to make a difference. Creativity in creating an exceptional client experience will become even more important moving forward and collaboration will play a key role.

When I started in this business, collaboration was not a word that was used much. Building a business was highly transactional. We were all swimming with the sharks and each of us was rowing the boat alone. Most of us were sole practitioners; two advisors joined forces only out of necessity for succession planning.

Fast‐forward to today and you read statements such as “competition makes us faster; collaboration makes us better” in virtually every business vision statement. Collaboration ...