PARTNERSHIP

PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS Series 34

PARTNERSHIP

Essentially, no one is self-made. We are people-made. We are each made by influence people have on us. We all need one another. An African proverb says, “A man cannot build prosperity without the help and support of the community.”

An important skill to learn is how to network with good people who can provide the support one needs for personal success. There are people that can help you achieve success. Look out for them and cultivate their friendship.

Friendship should begin from the mind. It has been said that two good heads are better than one. Two good minds in friendship are each better than the combination of the two. The power each friend acquires from the friendship is greater than the sum of their combined powers. Such is the power behind partnership. Partnering with a friend, one gets things done faster and achieves success earlier.

Friendship is the feeling shared by friends.Who is a friend? Here are various definitions experts give to friend:

   Ø “A friend is someone you love so much you’re willing to sacrifice for.”

   Ø “A friend is someone you obey out of love.”

   Ø “A friend is someone you can confide in.”

   Ø “In so much as anyone pushes you nearer good, he or she is your friend.”

   Ø “A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world goes out.”

  Ø “ friend is is one to whom we may pour out the content of out hearts, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will sift it, keep what’s what keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.”

   Ø “My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.”

   Ø “Your best friend is someone who talks to you when you want to talk and respect your silence when you don’t feel like talking.”

   Ø “A friend is the first to reach in every need and deed.”

It is said that one enemy is too much, one hundred friends are not enough. By all means avoid making enemies. You can never have too many friends. Make efforts to make more and more friends.

How to Make Friends

A timeless wisdom says, “If you want friends in life, you must show yourself friendly.” Here are some helps to make friends.

1.     Connect to people.Risk making the first move. Introduce yourself first and give people a good handshake, looking them in the eyes.

2.     Communicate. Tell them your name and ask for theirs. You may not be a good talker, but you don’t have to be in order greet people very well. And when they open a conversation, enjoy talking with them. If they don’t, you can encourage them to talk by commending what they did or even their dressing.

3.     Come around people.Be available.

4.     Care about people. Caring for people commands their friendship. :People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

5.     Comport yourself properly.Be courteous at all times. Respect people. Be polite to young and elderly people alike.

6.     Confess what you admire in people.Praise their strengths. Commend their efforts. Criticize less. Always look out for something good about people and talk about it.

7.     Correct people’s wrongdoing in love.Good people will like you for it. In as much as you are to accept human differences and limitations, don’t condone their wrongdoings. Correct them.

How to Build Friendship

Here are ways to become a friend that “sticks closer than a brother.”

1.     Accept your friends as they are.Don’t expect anyone to be perfect. Recognize their limitations and empower them to become better if you can. However, whether you can help them or not, accept your friends for who they are.

2.     Learn to listen with understanding.Learn to hear people out. Listening is a skill you can learn. As people talk to you, fix your gaze at them and respond to what they are saying. You can respond by nodding your head, by uttering short sounds that show you understand, or by repeating what they said.

3.     Be available when your friends need you.People appreciate availability more than ability.

4.     Think of yourself less than you think of your friends.

5.     Open up to your friends. Take the risk, confide in your friends.

6.     Emphasize their strengths, not their weaknesses.

7.     Be generous.Giving remains the best way to get a place in people’s heart.

8.     Welcome mutual attraction.There are people with which you feel comfortable. Cultivate their friendship.

9.     Be thankful. Praise your friends’ good gesture.

10.            Be committed to your friends.Good relationships require heavy commitment to sustain.

Choose Your Friends Carefully

Anyone that cannot increase you has the tendency to decrease you. An African proverb says, “A sheep that walks with a dog will eat excreta.” A wise man says, “The company of fools will suffer harm. He who walks with wise men will be wise.”

Don’t open up your life to wrong people. Your relationship will either sail or sink depending on who is on the on board with you. You can fly on the wings of right relationship while wrong relationship can ruin you. A wise man suggests three ways to attract good people.

1.     Stand alone.You should be committed to stand for your convictions, whatever the cost. Somebody said, “The person who cannot stand for something will fall for everything.” Standing alone on sound moral principles, you will be best equipped to attract good people.

2.     Say NO!People have tendency to either influence you for good or for evil. Be bold enough to say NO to negative influence.

3.     Stay away from certain people.Learn to stay away from gossip, quick-tempered, furious, disloyal, discontented, self-indulgent and immoral people.