Chapter 11

Leading by Example: Quietly Creating Big Change

In This Chapter

Shaking up matters

Turning back attacks

Making the most of every opportunity

Allying with others

Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ Now, there was a man who knew how to persuade through example. Rather than ousting the British with guns as the American colonialists had done 150 years earlier, Gandhi took a non-violent, non-cooperative approach to achieve Indian independence and improve Hindu–Muslim relations. Less obvious and deadly than guns, Gandhi’s method was:

Powerful because India gained its independence in 1947.

Persuasive because Gandhi got what he and his fellow Indians wanted.

Influential because his approach is recognised as the standard across the globe for others to model.

A simple man and a wise man, Gandhi led by quiet example, patiently creating change through incremental steps, reflecting one of the different approaches that are explored in this chapter.

At some point in your career, you’re going to see things differently from ‘the norm’ and want to confront the beliefs and behaviours in your organisation that seem counterproductive or unethical. At the same time, you may genuinely like your job, the company and the people you work with, and want to continue doing well in your career.

The difficulty is, if you speak up you may cause resentment in others, and if you don’t speak up you’ll cause resentment within yourself. The question becomes: how can you rock the boat without falling out? The answer is to put your differences to work to create constructive change.

In this chapter I introduce four moderate persuasive approaches – on a spectrum from personal, individual actions through to those that are more public, requiring working with others – all leading to significant change.

Expressing Your Disruptive Self

If you’re working in a traditional organisation where the environment is unproductive and the atmosphere is counter to your values, you can quietly persuade the organisation to change. The most inconspicuous way of initiating change is by simply acting in a way that feels personally right and that quietly challenges others’ expectations.

Do something differently and people begin to talk about it. As more and more people talk about what you’re doing, someone may emulate your behaviour – making an even greater impact on the organisation.

Whether you make a deliberate act of protest or simply demonstrate your own values, expressing your disruptive self can influence the choices others make and persuade organisations to review their procedures. The following sections explore ways to adjust how you dress, behave and decorate your office in order to create change.

Modifying your clothing

What is it about traditional organisations and their dress codes? While I agree that muffin tops and flip flops for women and cargo pants and sleeveless tee-shirts for men are inappropriate office attire – unless you’re working at a beach bar – most boardrooms are filled with ubiquitous tailored suits in black, dark grey and navy blue.

I’m not arguing that well-fitted jackets and conventional haircuts don’t send signals of reliability, dependability and a considered approach. Indeed, in organisations such as law firms, banks and the armed forces, these are desirable characteristics. But what happens if the intensity of the culture around dress is so extreme that you observe creativity being silenced and values quashed? You just might surprise yourself by quietly pushing against the norm.

Expressing yourself in a tactfully disruptive manner reinforces your sense of the importance of your convictions. But a thin line exists between expressing your disruptive self and acting like a self-serving idiot. Pay attention not only to how you’re feeling while you’re being disruptive but also to how others are responding.

While, for the most part, men have an easier time of deciding what to wear than their female colleagues, they still have questions about their attire that need addressing. For example, do they wear a tie or not? Brown shoes or black? Short sleeves or long? Keep in mind that whatever you choose to wear reflects your personal brand values.

While some women wilt under the barrage of disrespectful and patronising behaviour, others make slight alterations to their dress, allowing their femininity to work in their favour. Without meaning to offend anyone, it’s fair to say that it’s not uncommon in traditional male cultures for an atmosphere of condescension towards women to exist. Capable and qualified women struggle to maintain their feminine identity and hold onto their integrity in testosterone-filled surroundings where gender discrimination is rife. If you’re a woman who has experienced disrespectful and patronising behaviour, you can make some slight alterations to your dress that can allow your femininity to work in your favour.

The subject of clothing and accessories with overt political and religious connections continues to raise debate both for students as well as employees. In some cases judges find in favour of those wishing to display their beliefs, while in other instances they have found in favour of those opposed. Because my personal beliefs may be contrary to yours, and were I to suggest you act according to my values you could find yourself facing legal action, I encourage you to be true to your own values, being prepared to face possible consequences.

Adapting your behaviour

Just because everyone comes into the office at the crack of dawn and stays until midnight, it doesn’t mean that you have to. First of all, not everyone does. Second, if those hours conflict with your lifestyle, coming in before the sun rises and leaving when the stars are out won’t work for you. And if this schedule doesn’t work for you, you won’t be working for the organisation for long.

When you start acting differently from the norm – when you disrupt others’ expectations by quietly demonstrating your values – you can slowly change the atmosphere at work. It takes only one person to notice the difference in your behaviour to get people talking. In time, they may even take the plunge themselves and emulate your actions.

The more people talk about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it – or the more they reflect your behaviour in their own – the more influence you have on the culture of your organisation.

Creating balance in your life doesn’t mean that productivity has to suffer. Adapt your work habits to complete your tasks more productively. For example:

Run meetings on schedule and monitor interruptions during your day.

Utilise technology (applications for handheld devices, websites, software and so on) to speed up low-level and administrative tasks.

Complete your most challenging tasks first thing. Tackle the tough stuff first when your energy’s at its highest.

Just start. Once you get started you find you get into the flow and time flies.

Work at your most productive times. Find out when you’re most productive and work to those times.

Make out your to-do list at the end of your working day. When you come to work, you won’t have to figure out what needs doing.

Build in time for exercise. Physical exercise boots productivity and morale.

Organise your workspace. Spending time searching for pens and documents under piles of paper is a waste of precious minutes, if not hours.

Delegate. You free up your time and empower others to do what they’re good at.

Learn to say ‘no’. There’s no reason for you to do everything for everyone. Save your sanity by making wise decisions.

For more tips for increasing productivity, pick up a copy of Project Management For Dummies by Nick Graham and Stanley Portny (Wiley), which has a ton of time-management and productivity strategies.

Altering your environment

When you want to influence the thinking of your clients and colleagues, and your organisation’s environment doesn’t reflect your personal values and interests, you may have to make a few changes in your surroundings. Showing who you are and what matters to you opens the door for conversation, and after you get people conversing, all things are possible.

People are more comfortable when they get to know you and what you value. And when people are comfortable with you, they’re more open to your influence. Invite people into your office for one-to-one conversations or casual meetings. That way, your guests can see a bit of the person behind the organisation. As they get to know you, they may like you. As I note in Chapter 10, if people like you, you’re more able to persuade them.

Many heterosexual couples display wedding and family photos in their offices as a simple way of connecting with others and reflecting what’s important to them. So, if you are half of a gay or lesbian couple, what are you to do? If your relationship is important to your identity, and having a photo of your partner and you together brings you pleasure, put it on show. While some people may be uncomfortable seeing you in a same-sex relationship, by displaying a photo of you and your partner together, you’re expressing your authentic self. You are living your values and presenting yourself in a way that invites discussion around what matters to you.

However you reveal your values and beliefs, make sure your behaviour is non-offensive.

When you’re about to make an offensive comment or gesture, take a deep breath and count to ten. Vulgarity has no place in the office or anywhere else, as my children remind me. That said, it’s not uncommon. A colleague once said that every time he was tempted to call someone a rude word or speak in an offensive or coarse manner, he’d think how he’d feel if someone spoke to his mother, sister or daughter that way.

If you feel you need to offend someone to wake them up, think about ethical behaviour, which you can read about in Chapter 5. If you still need to wake someone up, I find that telling her I’m disappointed in her behaviour usually does the trick. Then there’s always the technique of handing out a warning when things get really bad.

Turning the Energy Around

The samurai of feudal Japan developed a method of neutralising an enemy in which the attacker’s energy was used against him. This was in direct contrast to the traditional approach of hitting, punching, kicking and striking back in opposition. This new form of self-defence was called Jujitsu.

Similar to Jujitsu in combat, you turn the energy of a verbal or personal attack back on your aggressor. The following sections detail what you can do when someone comes at you with objectionable or demeaning words or treats you in an unwarranted way. By redirecting your attacker’s energy, you can influence others’ responses and turn these aggressive behaviours into opportunities for change.

Redirecting insensitive statements

When you hear someone speak in an insensitive way, what are you going to do? Walk on by like it never happened? Hurl back an equally insensitive statement at the person? How about you respond in a way that can influence future behaviour?

By turning an insensitive statement, action or behaviour back on itself – and making the other person’s negative energy work against them rather than for them – you become a proactive persuader.

The strategies listed below are designed to help you communicate respectfully when someone else is acting like a jerk. While the approaches may not be foolproof, they’re better than coming back with an insult which is bound to make conversation and cooperation more difficult. Although insulting or offending the other person may give you a momentary sense of satisfaction, it’s unlikely to lead to an agreeable outcome.

Don’t play along. Act as if you didn’t get what the other person was saying. If you’re in a one-to-one situation, you could calmly comment, ‘Really? That’s not my experience.’

Use Socratic questioning. Paraphrase neutrally what’s been said and follow up with questions.

Calmly request they refrain from making insensitive remarks. By letting the offender know how you feel by saying ‘I feel (name the emotion) when you (come up with a non-judgemental description of the behaviour) because (describe the tangible effects)’ you’re informing them and taking responsibility for your feelings, not blaming them.

Ask for clarification. Ask follow-up questions to confirm the other person’s basis for her remarks. This is not an opportunity for you to make a statement, it’s a way of discovering information that will help you understand what the speaker feels, means or believes.

Provide information. Tell the other person why you find her comments insensitive. She may be unaware of your feelings.

Neutralising awkward actions

Whether someone’s intentionally causing another person pain or suffering by purposefully being rude, hurtful or unkind, or they’re simply gauche, inept or socially clumsy, awkward situations are common occurrences in the workplace. Some people just can’t help themselves and will make demeaning statements or actions. Others relish a good argument and don’t shy away from being verbally aggressive, attacking another person’s character or flinging about other abusive comments. The fact that others may feel ill at ease, embarrassed or uncomfortable in these situations doesn’t seem to bear much weight when the person behaving awkwardly is in full flow.

When someone makes a comment or behaves in a way that can lead to discomfort – whether intended or not – you can act like a samurai by redirecting her negative force to change the situation.

If you’re a manager wanting to promote your valued team members and protect them from being unintentionally ignored, you may have to speak like a samurai. By that I mean protect your valuable team members and their contributions. For example:

Someone may make a constructive comment, a useful suggestion or a wise observation in a meeting, only to have it ignored and then repeated later by someone else to much acclaim. If you see this happening, interject with a supportive remark crediting the colleague with the original comment. For example, you could say something along the lines of, ‘Jeremy, that’s an important point. I’m glad you picked up on Felicity’s concerns. Felicity, did Jeremy correctly summarise your points?’

Rather than attacking the person who interrupted, listen and watch what’s going on, constructing your response in such a way that you can disarm rather than harm the interrupter.

Instead of pointing out people’s faults and inappropriate behaviours and remarks, or lashing out when you think the situation warrants a quick flip of the whip, you can quietly make a big change by practising self-control and emotional intelligence. Holding your tongue and listening and watching with a keen ear and eye for what’s being communicated, then responding in a way that defuses any potential harm rather than fanning the flames, you can initiate small yet meaningful changes in people’s beliefs and behaviours. You can identify fundamental issues without coming across as accusatory, as well as relieving potential conflict by addressing the underlying tensions clearly and calmly, without making any accusations or assumptions.

Reacting like a samurai requires self-control and emotional intelligence. While you may want to let rip with the first thought that pops into your head, bite your lip, count to ten and think before speaking. Once your words have left your mouth, there’s no getting them back. Listening more than you speak gives you the advantage of learning about the other person, her feelings and her issues, giving you the advantage when it comes to responding. In addition, listen empathically, paying attention to not only what’s said, but the way it’s said as well. This way you take your own thoughts and emotions out of the frame and can see the situation from the other person’s point of view. For more tips about how to practise self-control and emotional intelligence, flip to Chapters 7 and 12.

When you identify underlying issues and want to relieve unconscious tensions and make meaningful changes in your colleagues’ attitudes and behaviours by voicing these concerns, avoid making accusations. Doing so only annoys other people and definitely doesn’t persuade them to change.

For example, if you’re in a situation where you believe your boss isn’t paying attention to you when you’re speaking, rather than accusing her by saying something like ‘You never listen to me,’ you could say, ‘I feel that I’m not being heard.’ This approach removes any need for your boss to respond defensively, because you’re taking the responsibility for your feelings. Other samurai-like behaviours include:

Give them the responsibility. If someone wants some information from you that you don’t want to, or can’t, tell them, rather than saying ‘I can’t tell you that,’ respond with ‘I’m not allowed to say.’

Give her choices. Rather than telling someone what she ‘needs to’ or ‘must’ do, suggest that ‘you could’ or ‘you might’. This allows the other person to save face instead of having to agree to your demand or allegation.

Avoid confrontation. If someone makes a point that you don’t agree with, instead of saying, ‘You’re wrong!’ reply instead with ‘I would argue that . . .’ or ‘The way I see it is . . .’.

Convert an accusation into a query. Accusations are like rhetorical questions in that they’re meant to make a point without the expectation of a reply, except an accuser hopes you come back with a denial or a hardened attitude she can push against. Don’t give her that opportunity. Instead, rephrase her accusation as a question. For example, rather than coming back with a comment like ‘I don’t see the point in continuing with this conversation,’ you could respond with ‘What is your desired outcome for this conversation.’

Stay positive. Instead of saying ‘That’s not what I said,’ you could reply with ‘Let me explain my point again.’ This makes you sound more agreeable, with the aim of fostering a productive relationship.

Practise tact. When you speak harshly or in an unkind manner, your listener’s going to protect herself by shutting down or lashing back. If the point of your conversation is constructive and you disagree with what’s being said, reply with ‘I’m not sure I agree with . . .’ rather than a quick ‘You’re wrong’ or ‘I disagree’ or more negative comments. In addition, you could begin your sentence with, ‘As I understand . . .’ or ‘Am I correct in understanding that . . .?’ This way, you leave the door open for neutralising potentially awkward situations.

Getting Creative

Some people look for and value new ways of doing things, and take responsibility for the risks and outcomes of these methods. They approach their work in an entrepreneurial manner. Not only are they innovators or the people who set up new ways of doing things, they’re the ones who can invigorate and rejuvenate organisations when they spy opportunities for improvement lurking around the corner.

Spotting, creating and capitalising on short- and long-term opportunities for change are the hallmarks of great influencers and persuaders. If you’re flexible, adaptable and prepared to make the most of chance circumstances, if you’re prepared to be an agent for change rather than a victim of situations, if you’re prepared to see opportunities for action in the routine of everyday life, you’re well positioned to influence others around you.

Like a boxer bouncing on his toes or a jazz pianist off on a riff, influencers and persuaders must be prepared to respond creatively to the moment when it arises. After you’re in the moment, you can take over and direct the flow. As I say in Chapter 13 on emotions and body language, persuasion and influence are a lot like dancing: now you curtsey; now I bow.

Spotting opportunities

Low-hanging fruit are the easily winnable actions, activities or decisions in a negotiation or business. Going for the low-hanging fruit is unlikely to rustle anyone’s feathers and rarely requires you to expend a lot of extra effort. For example, if you want to cut down on the amount of paper wastage in your office, encourage employees to single space, use a smaller font, and print on both sides of the paper. Other low-hanging fruit opportunities are:

Politicians who set a number of easily attainable goals they can accomplish with minimal effort

A sales person who seeks out the easiest customers to sell to

Enable your customers to shop with mobile devices. Research shows that approximately 90 per cent of Americans between the ages of 18 to 64 have mobile phones and of these, nearly 50 per cent use their phones to shop.

Go for these opportunities as often and as readily as you can. Over time, you end up filling your basket with bushels of wins that you can use to further your cause when you want to prove your credibility and convince your listener.

Other opportunities – the not-so-easy wins – take a little longer to work through and require proactive approaches. Focus on your long-term strategy in these cases rather than on how you can score fast wins. For example, if the opportunity to influence an organisation’s values or business practices is important to you, be patient and persevere when the going gets tough. Realise that you’re probably going to take many small (but not always simple) steps in order to reach your goal. It took some time for those issues to become established within the organisation, and it will take some time to change them.

Always keep your senses attuned for new opportunities. As one of my mentors told me early in my career, ‘Keep your eyes and ears open – and your mouth shut.’ Look and listen first – and wait to speak or act.

Opportunities to persuade people to behave differently can appear unexpectedly. If you know what you want and are quick off the mark, you can influence people’s thinking and behaviour.

Capitalising on opportunities

If you gather your small wins, build some interest and keep plugging away at your agenda, you can eventually influence enough people to create a big change.

Publicly arguing with and attacking the keepers of the flame doesn’t win you friends and certainly doesn’t influence people. What you have to do instead is take advantage of opportunities when they come your way.

If you want to advance your career, being good at your job isn’t enough. Others have to see you being good at it. For example, if an opportunity arises to make a presentation about something you’ve been working on, be the first to volunteer. That way you can reveal your subject knowledge and others can see you as courageous, proactive, bold, credible and daring – because most people appreciate just how terrifying giving a presentation can be.

If you’re going to make a presentation, make sure you’ve done your audience research. Too often, presenters spend all their time developing the content, failing to consider their audience’s needs and concerns. See Chapter 8 for getting yourself noticed and Chapter 9 for understanding how your listener makes decisions.

If you’re a manager, encourage your team members to present at meetings. They gain experience, recognition and prestige in front of their colleagues and superiors, while you’re seen as a leader who demonstrates faith in your people.

While some companies I work with still have a ‘command and control’ approach towards management – and experience lots of ensuing turf wars – many businesses are going over to the other side, a land where collaboration and power-sharing are the norm. Most organisations find this philosophy leads to less stress and more productivity. When senior executives encourage the line managers below them to delegate responsibility as much as they can, they empower individuals and teams within their departments. When initiative taking is openly praised in front of their managers, people take pride in their work. When calculated risks are encouraged and you’re free to challenge the boss, creativity and transparency become the norm.

Too many times, people at the top of the pyramid – or just in charge of a well-established department or division – lose touch with their beliefs and values as they seek fortune and fame. Make sure that you have people around who challenge your approach. Only by seeing all angles and issues can you successfully capitalise on opportunities that come your way.

Building Strategic Alliances

It is often said that an optimist and pessimist make the best partnership, because one sees the profits while the other sees the risks.

If you want something to happen, whether organising the office Christmas party or building a global conglomerate, you must persuade others to work with you. No matter how willing and able you are, you can’t do it all on your own.

Your initiative gains clout and has a bigger impact when you have others on board to further your agenda. You and your allies can persuade the people in power to pay attention more quickly and directly when you work as a team rather than each going about her quest as a lone individual.

When you build strategic alliances, you gain:

A sense of power and legitimacy within the organisation

Access to additional expertise, resources and contacts

Assistance getting tasks done more quickly and effectively

Emotional support

Advice

Alliances come in all shapes and sizes and aren’t limited to formal teams or contracts. What’s required is a desire to collaborate, a readiness to think big, and a willingness to build relationships. In addition, for the alliance to work, both parties must gain value.

Below are six points to remember about building alliances:

Work with someone you know.

Share your ideas and be willing to join forces.

Weigh up what each of you has to offer.

Confirm that there’s a win–win for each of you.

Be sure that you’re each ready to commit.

Verify your agreement.

Promoting change together

Getting people who are on your side to join you is fairly simple. Depending on their constraints, if they’re able and the cause sits comfortably with their beliefs and values, persuading them to come on board shouldn’t be a problem. For example, there’s a free online site for leading social change that provides daily news and information about important social issues and offers people the opportunity to sign petitions for actions they believe in (www.change.org) This website appeals to my beliefs and values, is easy to use, and is an instrument for making a difference. In barely a blink of an eye I signed up and I now regularly sign petitions that address social issues that I feel strongly about, many of which I wouldn’t be aware of if it weren’t for the information on this site. Because it’s easy to use and because it sits comfortably with my beliefs and values, the organisers had no trouble getting me on board.

Strategic alliances are committed relationships that work best when the benefits to both parties and the way they will work is clear and agreed from the outset.

Persuading the opposition to join you requires a more thoughtful approach. You have to open your mind and let go of any preconceived ideas you may have about the other side. Treat people you perceive to be a threat as equals. Even better, treat them as your friends.

Assumptions about competition contradict the law of nature that says that everyone is unique. The same holds true for businesses. It’s not possible for two businesses to serve the same client’s needs in the same way. Businesses exist for their own specific purposes and missions to serve their customers in their own special ways. That is why businesses don’t need to compete in traditional ways. Instead, owners and managers can collaborate in ways that truly serve their own needs and their customers’ interests. For example, in the classic movie Miracle on 34th Street, Kris Kringle, as Santa Claus at the department store Macy’s, sends a customer to Gimbals, a competing department store, because he knows that the customer will find there exactly what she’s looking for. Kringle understands that by serving the needs of the customer, he’s serving the best interests of Macy’s even if it means losing one sale. He’s building Macy’s reputation as the place to shop because if they don’t carry the item, they know who does.

Today’s world is one of abundance. Businesses know not just their own products but the products and services offered by others in their industry. By collaborating with others, you can increase your offerings, bringing greater success to everyone. Not every client is going to be the right one for you. There may be a lack of synergy, and interactions may be confusing and unfulfilling. If your business can’t serve all of your customer’s needs, having alliances with others in your industry can ultimately serve you well.

In my own business, I have developed an extensive network of working relationships with consultants, coaches, trainers, facilitators and marketers in order to learn about their ideal clients. The more I know about what they want to achieve and the approach they take to their work, the better able I am to refer clients and customers to them. While it may appear that we do similar work for similar types of clients, I consistently find that our work is complementary, not competitive, and that by collaborating together, we’re all better able to serve our clients.

Lack of trust is what usually gets in the way of collaboration. The best way to get around that is to collaborate only with those individuals and businesses that treat you the way you want to be treated. Start by making a list of qualities that you want your collaborator to demonstrate. Below are some of the qualities you might look for:

Open to collaboration

Knowledgeable and experienced

Ethical

Committed

Honest

Once you have your criteria in place, seek alliances with people who match your profile, starting with those associates you already know and the products and services they offer. Consider how else you could provide mutual assistance to serve one another’s clients. For example, if you’re a website designer, you probably know a number of software designers, hardware representatives, installers, networkers, trainers and consultants. Ask them what additional services they provide that your customers may find useful now or in the future. You could get together with your perfect collaborators to offer a free seminar to your customers on the latest technological developments. Your customers, and those of your collaborators, will appreciate your time and the solutions you’ve provided.

Outside of your existing contacts, you can find potential collaborators by raising your profile. Become involved in industry-related organisations, write for trade publications, speak at forums, and actively pursue collaborative relationships. By seeking mutually advantageous relationships with others within your industry, you can extend your client base and serve your existing customers even better.

People who represent the majority are integral in gaining support for your cause. When you want to challenge the status quo and know that the organisation is committed to upholding it, you have to tread carefully. Befriend those who support the system, seeking guidance from insiders who can advise you how far you can go. While not everyone is your ally, there’s no point in turning those who represent the status quo into your enemy. The issue is about procedures and principles, not people. Constantly consider all possibilities. Question your reasons, the circumstances, conditions and issues to determine how you can best build a supportive alliance.

Adding weight to your argument

Support comes in various forms, so look for your support in any and all of the following ways:

Offer a claim that states in one sentence why someone should support your proposition.

Provide personal experiences from yourself and others.

Enlist the help of like-minded co-workers who are similar in temperament to you, thus adding weight to your argument and giving you more clout and support when persuading others.

Find people who are sympathetic to your cause and who are in a position to influence the decision-makers.

Seek allies in high places to persuade others to adopt your point of view.

Befriend people whose point of view is different to yours to challenge your thinking and help you see all sides.

Present evidence that can substantiate your position.

Refer to others who have succeeded in similar situations.

Provide a conclusion that sums up your argument.

When you want to persuade people to adopt a new way of doing anything, seek out the support of people who are part of the status quo. Share your ideas and actively listen to their feedback (see Chapter 7). These individuals will let you know just how hard you can push for change and warn you of potential minefields.

Consider all possible courses of action before seeking a strategic alliance. Ask yourself, ‘What are the right conditions, the right issues and the right circumstances for me to consider joining forces with others?’

Strategic alliances can offer a clear benefit to the organisations involved and their clients, and increase sales of defined products and services. To avoid confusion, customers need to know which company is responsible for which product or service. By creating strategic alliances, both the parties gain visibility and strengthen their company’s profile. With an alliance, revenues for both companies increase and costs are shared.

Before forming a strategic alliance, consider the questions below:

What are the clear benefits for both parties in building a strategic alliance (for example, financial, product or service, relationship)?

How will you clearly define your strategic alliance so your customers can understand what it means to them?

What can you do to network the individuals throughout your organisations to strengthen the alliance bond?

How much strategic alliance business do you plan to deliver and how much can you fulfil?

What plans have you in place for the scope of work to be delivered through the alliance? How will you define and measure the success of your strategic alliance?

How clear and honest is the communication between all the partners in the strategic alliance? How strong are the people who are responsible for the implementation and success of the programme?

How committed are both partners to promoting the image and success of the strategic alliance?