If you are in one or considering being in a business partnership, you would be wise to sit next to each other…not opposite each other when discussing the business.
Visualize that the business is on the opposite side and that two or more of you are looking directly at it and checking it out to make vital decisions. To digress for a moment, because it is so important, use the same principle to keep the vitality in your marriage. You and your spouse on one side looking at your marriage.
It may seem like a small unimportant detail, but it is not. Unspoken, body language, implications and the like make a huge difference. When you both or all are on the same side of the table there is an implicit understanding….that should be given a voice, that everyone is committed to doing whatever it takes to make the business (or marriage) a success. There is no room for “I do more than you do”. Everyone must be willing to give 100% of what is needed and to do so as a team that respects, appreciates, and trusts its members. Breakdowns in any of these areas must be addressed.
If I am coaching your business I sit with you on your side of the table and view my client as your business.