My Great Uncle Ivan was a very well-known Director of Production at a number of studios in the glory days of Hollywood. At one point he worked for Walt Disney for many years, designing a number of classic rides at Disneyland. (Anyone who still remembers the original Dragnet show, and the hands that came in at the end with the hammer and chisel, for the Mark VII television production logo–well, those were my Great Uncle Ivan’s hands!)

Anyway, on his last day at Disney Studios, before moving to a very prestigious position at Universal, he went into Walt’s office. He had known Walt Disney for many years, and they were quite good friends. Going in to say his goodbye’s before pulling off the lot for the last time, he was quite teary eyed. As he walked in, Walt looked up from his desk. My uncle had prepared himself for what would be a difficult goodbye, not only to a collegue he greatly resepected and admired, but to a man he had become very close to as a friend and confidante over the years. He braced himself for an emotional farewell.

The first thing Walt said as my uncle walked through the door was “Ivan, do you have your keys?”

Needless to say, my uncle was shocked. Here was Walt Disney, one of the greatest men in Hollywood, whom my uncle counted as a close friend–not even pausing to say “hello” on what was his last day, but just taking care of business, asking for the keys and showing him the door.

Flustered (and a bit angry), my uncle started rummaging through his pockets and said, “um, yes, they’re in here somewhere,” trying not to show his shock, bewilderment and dismay at Walt’s request. After a few seconds of searching, he extracted the keys from his pocket, and fumbled with them briefly, as he started to remove his office keys from his key ring.

As he looked up, Walt was moving from behind his desk, with his arm outstretched. Walt approached my uncle and gently pushed on his hand, enclosing my uncle’s hand back around his keys. Walt’s eyes crinkled into their familiar grin as he said, “Ivan, keep them. You’ll always have an office here, waiting for you, whenever you want to come back.”

My Great Uncle Ivan never did return to work for Walt Disney, but their friendship remained strong until Walt’s death. And Uncle Ivan always counted Walt Disney as one of the greatest men, and greatest business men he had ever known.

Now, the point of all of this is that there is a new future for SoulMate In Business. We have been quiet here for a few months as we are moving in a new direction. I, along with the help of my husband Alex, are excited to announce that we are transitioning all of the SoulMate materials into a new membership site that we are targeting to launch at the end of September. We are VERY excited about all of that. And Diane is pursuing her non-profit work, though she will continue to be on the Board of Experts for the SoulMate In Business membership site, as well as a Contributing Editor.

The point of the above story is that in discussing the direction of SoulMate, I used it to illustrate to Diane that even though the direction of the business is changing, and I will be heading it through the next phase, I asked her to “keep her keys” because there will always be a place for her whenever she wants to return. I will miss working with her greatly on a day-to-day basis, and the non-profits that get her daily attention are blessed beyond what they even realize! But I know that she will be back to play where and when she wants to, and it will be a richer experience for everyone in the end.

In the meantime, please stay tuned. If you have not yet done so, please sign up for the “Ten Tips” sheet on the homepage, so you will be on the mailing list and will be kept abreast of the membership site updates and launch date.

Warmest,

Kimberly

It will be fun to see who follows through, after the “conference high” dissipates.  So many of the ideas that were generated could be powerfully delivered–and make a huge impact–in concert with others.

Collaboratively,

Diane

Just a sneak peek.  The 5 Secrets are:

1. Reflect
2. Project
3. Connect
4. Reject
5. Select 

There is a lot of important information behind the key words.  Do you want to know more?  For those of you who missed the call but would like to learn more, please go to the “5 Secrets” tab and sign up.  Even though this call is over, we will be sending out follow-up information as well as notices for future teleclasses.

Thanks to all who participated in the call–not just those from across this country, but to those who joined in all the way from Australia and South Africa.  How’s that for proof that business collaborations have global appeal!

Collaboratively,

Diane

As we consider our visions, motives and hesitations about collaboration, it is worth exploring and examining our personal reactions to these “games”.

 Enjoy!

Just to give you a taste, we’re creating the SoulMate in Business Journal, which will be an information packed semi-monthly newsletter. We’re also holding a great free teleclass on the 5 Secrets to Finding Your Perfect [Business] Partner, which will be a great class.

And there’s even more to come, so keep checking back!

So we’re very excited for this new session, and have renewed energy to get a lot done. We’ll keep everyone updated as to what products we’re creating, as there are some REALLY exciting things coming down the pipeline!

This will be an exciting, busy, and productive 90 days!

In the meantime, thank you for all of your well wishes!

Warmly,

Alex

Some people don’t like Valentine’s Day, which I can understand–you should be letting those you love know that you love them on a daily basis, and not just on a commercialized holiday. So yes, I do get that.

But on the flip side, at least having Valentine’s Day reminds all of us to stop and think about those we love, those we appreciate, those we cherish, and offers an opportunity to let them know.

So I would challenge anyone in a collaborative business relationship to use today as a chance to think about why you and your business partner decided to work together. What was it that attracted you to each other? What do each of you uniquely bring to the table? What traits, characteristic, work ideals or habits, etc., do you appreciate in your partner?

Granted, you don’t have to send flowers, cards or candy to those you work with, but you can certainly take a moment today to think about all the great things about your working relationship. Who knows–it just might bring a new creative spark that could rev up your business or even take you in a whole new direction!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Kimberly and I had been working together on a different project with Lable Braun—A G.U.I.D.E to Greatness: A Simple Framework for Complex Change.  All three of us were looking forward to going to a coaching conference hosted by Andrea J. Lee and Susan Austin in early February.  Lable would be one of the presenters.  He and Andrea invited Kimberly and I to include our promotional materials on the table in the back of the room. 

Great opportunity, but we hadn’t yet developed our unique joint venture offering.  We were still going through the issues of what a joint venture or partnership would look like.  Our legal and consulting backgrounds aided us in thinking through the “what if’s” and our expertise stopped us.  Why?  We knew the issues, the technical traps and the personal perils.  We were using our coaching expertise to work these out.

During that shower, the analogy of a business to a personal relationship came clear.  This didn’t stop with the dating analogy or the business marriage.  No.  SoulMate in Business would begin with the question of “am I ready for commitment?”, would follow a business venture through the trials and celebrations of day-to-day life together, and would culminate in guidance for wrapping it up or preserving the business for the future.

You’ve had these kinds of showers when so many disjointed thoughts wash over you.  So many ideas are flowing that you don’t want to turn off the water. You want to capture each and every detail before they go down the drain.  You towel off more quickly than ever so that you can get to a piece of paper to capture the high points.  And, with me, I anxiously waited time to pass (Kimberly is on Pacific time and I am on Central) so that I could call Kimberly.

Once on the phone, we developed the idea for a teleclass program and created the outline.  As we built out the analogy, content development came naturally, much informed by our own JV experiences.  With the help of Alex Sobie, Kimberly’s husband and talented graphics designer, we created our teleclass flyer.  We were ready to market our teleclass, just in time for the conference and just in time for Valentines Day. 

Yes, SoulMate in Business was inspired by the calendar–and we would be celebrating the new teleclass offering as well as our business relationship.

Instead, I am setting an intention.

This year, I am going to be more purposeful in where I invest my energy.  I intend to live by my Living and Leading in 3-D model: Discover who you are. Decide what’s important. Do what matters.™  (You can learn more about my core business, Lead Your Life, LLC)

When it comes to my professional life, I am going to get back to basics.  Who am I when it comes to my business offerings?  Anyone who reads my bio might finish it and wonder “OK, that is who you are, what you stand for, what impact you wish to have…but, what do you do?”  When it comes to my broader business plan, I intend to concentrate on my own 3-Ds.

So far, instead of honing in on a more discreet target market, narrowing what I do and refining my offer, I seem to be widening my reach.  Hmmm. 

In a couple of weeks, I am partnering with a former client, Barbara Techel, on a weekend retreat for women called “Winter Soulitude”.  Barbara started out as a career coaching client.  As so often happens, the coaching conversations took a deep dive and pretty soon the focus was ”what is my life’s purpose?” and “where and how do I start?”.  Barbara’s commitment to this process was unfailing and her personal and business success has been stellar.  Last fall, when I told Barbara that I was thinking about holding a retreat, she encouraged me to do so and enthusiastically offered to do anything she could do to help.  When I asked if she was serious and if she wanted to parter with me on this project, she jumped right in.  This is part of the fluidity of my business plan.  We were off and running.

I am coming into this year working on a project–one that I am absolutely thrilled to be working on–that was not part of my long-term business plan and is not directly focused on what I would describe as my target market.  I will be curious to see where this experience leads.

Regardless, this partnership experience will undoubtedly offer many lessons that I need to learn about myself and about the process of joint ventures.  And, this experience will provide more fodder for SoulMate in Business.