The THREE Must-haves for a High-velocity Partnership

Over the last two weeks I’ve set the stage for what I want to say today.

We talked about how the feedback that moves you requires relationships that can deliver it. We talked about the isolation that can creep in, especially when you’re at a certain level or operating as a founder or entrepreneur, and what it means to build real community instead of just a network.

This week I want to get specific. Because I’ve been asking myself what makes a slingshot partnership a slingshot partnership. After two years of examining the relationships that have made the biggest difference for me, I keep finding the same three things. 👇

Not just mutual benefit. That’s table stakes for any good professional relationship. I mean something more specific: a willingness to give that runs deeper than any feeling of competition. I have slingshot partners I compete with for speaking engagements. When one of them gets a gig I wanted, I can feel a momentary sting of disappointment, and then I genuinely move on to celebration because my joy at seeing her succeed is real. It isn’t performed. And I know that if the situation were reversed, she’d feel the same.

Not everyone can do this with someone in direct competition. That’s okay. Find slingshot partners who aren’t competing with you for the same opportunities if that dynamic doesn’t work for you. The key is the commitment to aggressive collaboration itself: the deliberate choice to opt out of competition with this person, to believe there is more than enough out there, and to know that you are all more likely to find it if you help each other.

A slingshot partner is someone you can put your name behind. Not reluctantly, not with caveats. Fully, without reservation. You trust that they are who they say they are. You trust that they will do what they say they will do. You’d be willing to be genuinely vulnerable with them, because you’re confident they are worthy of that vulnerability. If you can’t say all of that about a person, they might be a great colleague, a wonderful human, a valued contact. But they aren’t a slingshot partner. Hard stop.

A slingshot partner will say the thing other people won’t. Not to be harsh, but because they care more about your growth than your feelings in the moment. Lauren told me I wilted when I talked about going back to corporate. She didn’t say it to sting me. She said it because she could see something I couldn’t see about myself, and she cared enough to say it out loud. I call it “mirror holding”. They hold up the mirror for you and help you see yourself the way they see you. That’s what truth over comfort actually looks like in practice.

Here’s what I’ve noticed: when all three of these elements are present, the Breakthrough Formula activates differently. You can’t stay stuck as an Over-Thinker when you have a slingshot partner who moves fast and pulls you into action. You can’t keep burning out as a Taskmaster when someone in your corner helps you stop and Strategize. The right partnerships shore up the elements of Strategize, Energize, and Mobilize (my SEM formula) you naturally underuse.

Success is a team sport. And we get to decide what that team actually looks like. Mine is full of slingshot partners. Next week, I'll introduce you to a few of them.

Until then, pay close attention to your professional community. Do you have true slingshot partners rooting for you?

🤏TINY TWEEK Challenge

Look at the list you made last week. 

Pick one person on it and evaluate your relationship with them relative to the three slingshot characteristics: aggressively collaborative, trustworthy in both character and competence, and willing to tell you the truth even when it's uncomfortable.

Do all three show up?

If YES, that's great! Express your appreciation and pass along this email to them. If not, now is a great time to start building one.