Social media is a great entertainer when you’re waiting for the next train. Last week I found myself down a rabbit hole of unusual celebrity superpowers. Who knew that Margot Robbie is a tattoo artist, Beyonce does oil paintings and Tom Cruise is a professional fencer? Everyone has a superpower, even if they don’t realise it yet.
When you’re building corporate partnerships you need to stand out from the crowd. Not in a weird way, like my friend who can sing The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York backwards, but to amplify your strengths and unique positioning. Recent McKinsey research talks about the institutional capability that gives you a competitive advantage.
Let’s explore some of the key elements.
Vision and leadership
Setting an ambitious vision will inspire corporates about the partnership story they’ll be able to tell their customers, staff and investors. Everyone loves a slice of success and corporate partners are more enthused about an audacious vision than one which simply aims to ‘double your impact’. Cancer Council aims to ‘eliminate cervical cancer by 2030’ whilst Ovarian Cancer works to ensure that ‘no woman walks alone’ through her journey. Sometimes your superpower can be a visionary and dynamic leader, like Ronni Kahn of OzHarvest. Ronni is on a mission to eliminate food waste and is a passionate advocate of changing the food system for the better. Be clear on what your organisation stands for, and you’ll find it easier to attract like-minded corporate partners.
Employees and people
What are the skills and attributes that make your organisation successful? The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is strengthened by the lived experience of its workforce and volunteers. Beyond Blue has built a talent pool of community speakers that share their personal journeys with mental health challenges. NBCF has an organisational capability in cause marketing and events, that enables them to step seamlessly into new opportunities. There is the old corporate adage of ‘your greatest assets are your people’. Have your considered how your staff and people networks are actually an organisational superpower?
Culture and mindset
Every organisation has a set of values and cultural norms that are plastered on walls and business cards. Often they’re bland and generic, like ‘integrity, transparency, innovation’. Consider how your organisation works on its best days; what superpower do you notice? The Smith Family have a culture of partnerships, which is driven from the leadership down. That culture encourages collaboration with corporate partners, with The Smith Family often hosting workshops that bring their partners together for collective problem solving and brainstorming. Is there something about your organisational culture that makes you stand out as a potential partner?
Technology
Organisational capability is a mix of human and technological input. You need the individual skills combined with a solid technical approach. St Kilda Mums leveraged their well-developed Salesforce platform to track and manage the logistics of refurnished and re-homed baby equipment. It enabled them to monitor and measure what was saved from landfill, the speed of turnaround and the number of families receiving the equipment. This use of technology helped create a compelling story of impact and sustainability for new corporate partners.
Operations
Do you have an advantage in the way you operate or the locations you work? Sometimes a geographic fit is very enticing to the right corporate partners. The Royal Flying Doctors Service has a long standing partnership with The Ghan train that operates in the same remote and outback regions. RFDS is able to add value to the experience of travellers and leverage The Ghan’s networks to raise awareness of its work. Do you have a unique footprint or special way of working that makes you stand out?
Routines
Every athlete has a routine that helps them improve their performance. What are the routines that make you stronger? Do you conduct regular check-ins with corporate partners to understand the latest changes in their business? Maybe you have your CEO do quarterly calls with partners to maintain the connections at the highest level. Perhaps you hold an annual thankyou event for corporate partners or give them a regular shout out on social media. Consistency build strength and inspires trust in your corporate partners.
Identifying your superpowers will help corporates find you and will ensure that you’re more confident about your own commercial value proposition. And you won’t have to become a tattoo artist or oil painter to stand out from the competition.