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Finding Allies, Building Alliances: 8 Elements that Bring--and Keep--People Together

ISBN: 978-1-118-24792-1
240 pages
October 2013, Jossey-Bass
US $29.95 Add to Cart

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Business & Finance, Jossey-Bass


September 03, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Finding Allies, Building Alliances: 8 Elements that Bring, and Keep People, Together

“I've seen first-hand how collaboration is crucial to success—not only within an organization, but between multiple organizations. In Finding Allies, Building Alliances, Leavitt and McKeown provide a clear, simple roadmap for how to approach collaboration and the necessary elements for groups and people working together to succeed.”—Eric Schmidt, chairman, Google

 

Finding Allies, Building Alliances:

8 Elements that Bring – and Keep – People Together 

By Former Governor and White House cabinet member Mike Leavitt

Your business challenges extend far beyond you and your firm, to the competitors within your industry and the regulators outside it. In our in increasingly interconnected world, it’s the best networked groups that triumph. However, some problems are too complex for an individual agency to handle alone and few know how to collaborate in a high performance way.

Leaders in every sector of the economy intuitively see the value of bringing together competitors, scientists, activists, government representatives and others to forge solutions to problems they can’t solve on their own. Whether it’s an auto company executive seeking to increase the percentage of alternative fuel vehicles manufactured or an educational leader trying organize a charter school in an inner-city neighborhood, collaborations are essential, and a viable collaborative process is critical.

 As the former Governor of Utah and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt has first-hand experience with building these kinds of high-level collaborations. In his new book, Finding Allies, Building Alliances: 8 Elements that Bring – and Keep – People Together (Jossey-Bass; 978-1-118-24792-1; September 2013; $29.95; e-book available) Leavitt and co-author Rich McKeown help find workable solutions to the most complex problems by introducing 8 elements that will help any leader foster and maintain an effective production collaboration venture.

These 8 elements include:

  1. Common Pain – a shared common problem or opportunity.
  2. A Convener of Stature – a respected and influential presence.
  3. Representatives of Substance – collaborators with the right mix of experience and expertise.
  4. Committed Leaders – to keep a collaboration moving over the rough patches.
  5. A Sense of Movement – towards an important destination.
  6. A Formal Charter – established rules that help resolve differences and avoid stalemates.
  7. A Clearly Defined Purpose – a driving idea that keeps people on task
  8. A Common Information Base – to avoid divisive secrets and opaqueness.

Finding Allies, Building Alliances shows how better collaboration can not only solve problems, but boost competitiveness. It is essential reading for any business or community leader looking for transformative solutions and a sustainable future.