Top Tip: Listen, Be Humble, Respect
One of the loudest messages we heard was the importance of approaching government partnerships with an open mind, respect, and humility. Interviewees had witnessed too many instances in which this was not the case (leading to negative outcomes) and had many experiences where they learned a tremendous amount from government partners (leading to better outcomes).
“What surprised me the most about government partnerships? … The willingness and ability of transformational leaders (whether mayor or minister or other) … to challenge the status quo when they can envision a different and better future for their citizens.” — Survey respondent
Advice from the field on demonstrating true partnership with government counterparts
- Demonstrate authentic respect and humility. When Code for America first began its work bringing user-centered design and technology to government-run programs, it inadvertently brought some tech industry arrogance about how it could “fix government.” CFA quickly recognized the unproductive nature of this attitude and developed an incredible respect for the public servants with whom it worked. It recognized that it was learning an invaluable amount from these individuals and that the best results came from working together with mutual respect. Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and CEO of Code for America, advises, “If you are newer to working in the government space, it’s easy to dismiss them as big and bureaucratic. But go in with an open mind and be prepared to learn about your own work as well. Treat people with respect and understanding; they know a lot of things you don’t know and people can smell that authenticity.”
- Communicate regularly — don’t just call when you need something. Ana Pantelic, Chief Strategy Officer of Fundación Capital, made the point that if you want to build effective relationships, you cannot call people only when you need something from them. The Fundación Capital team takes the time to understand its partners’ needs and strives to add value by understanding the government’s own priorities and interests. This can be as simple as emailing an article of interest or inviting someone to an upcoming conference. The continued engagement not only builds a stronger connection but helps the enterprise continually learn from its government counterparts. [To learn more about Fundación Capital’s approach to scaling, read the scaling snapshot here.]
In our survey, we found that nearly 80% of respondents reported communicating with government at least several times per month; 16% reported communicating daily.
Read next: Proactively manage — or avoid — politics, Find and Cultivate the Right Partners, or return to see all articles in Government Partners.
Access the full PDF of Leveraging Government Partnerships for Scaled Impact here or the key takeaways checklist here.
This article was written by Erin Worsham, Kimberly Langsam, and Ellen Martin, and released in September 2018.
