One thing you’ll always hear us talk about at The Founder & The Force Multiplier is partnership.
Most leaders, Executive Assistants, Chiefs of Staff, and other entrepreneurs and Force Multipliers we talk to want the same thing: To build a strong strategic business partnership with their, well, partner.
I think the most successful leader/Force Multiplier duos are those who intentionally choose partnership to build their business and further their careers. They are the individuals who would have been just as successful on their own, but decided that they didn’t want to go it alone.
And, I don’t blame them! Leadership is lonely. Building a business is hard. Being able to keep pace (and even a few steps ahead) of a CEO is intense.
But, when both parties are committed to building and growing a strong partnership – success usually follows. Afterall, no one succeeds alone.
If you need a little inspiration (and reminder) to invest the time and energy into growing your strategic partnership, check out some of our favorite partnership quotes below.
And don’t forget to check out our blog and subscribe to our newsletter to learn how to build a stronger strategic business partnership, become a better leader or Force Multiplier, and grow your company or career. Achieve more – together!
1. “The strength of a business partnership lies in the ability to adapt, innovate, and evolve together.” – Anonymous
2. “It takes two flints to make a fire.” – Louisa May Alcott, American novelis
3. Executives can’t do their jobs without Executive Assistants, and Executive Assistants wouldn’t be able to do their jobs without Executives. The ideal strategic partnership is a business relationship where each party is dedicating their time and resources to the partnership, rooted in their strengths. Each party is accountable for their contribution and deliverables. In a strategic partnership, there is exceptionally clear and consistent communication, as well as mutual respect and trust. In short, when we talk about the Founder and Force Multiplier or the Entrepreneur and Executive Assistant, we’re talking about one role, one job, that takes two people, focused on their strengths, to get it done. – Adam Hergenrother & Hallie Warner, co-authors of The Founder & The Force Multiplier
4. “It’s easy to hire people and tell them what to do. It’s hard to hire people and have them tell you what to do.” – Steve Jobs, founder of Apple
5. “Sometimes it’s just hard for one person to be a unicorn, to be able to do everything, but if you could create duos, they could cover each other’s strengths. So giving people a shared journey to be on together I think is really important … It’s a brilliant idea.” No. But he is onto something. Pair up. Loneliness at work is still a problem. Work friendships can help. So can finding the right strategic support partner to journey through work with. – Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb
6. Greatness happens when the person with the wild imagination collaborates with the person who knows how to get things done. – Simon Sinek, author and inspirational speaker
7. “The best partnerships come from people who have their own interests and talents, yet actively understand, remember, and appreciate each other’s interests and talents.” – Heidi Reeder, author
8. “Partnership is not a legal contract between two equal individuals. It’s an emotional alliance between two people who are committed to each other’s success.” – Warren Buffet, businessman, investor, and philanthropist
9. “Success is best when it’s shared.” – Howard Schultz, businessman, author, and former CEO of Starbucks
10. “The best partnerships are not dependent on a mere common goal but on a shared path of equality, desire, and no small amount of passion.” – Sarah MacLean, New York Times bestselling author
11. “Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs, founder of Apple
12. “Individually we’re one drop, but together we’re an ocean.” – Ryonosoke Satoro, entrepreneur
13. “Collaboration is the essence of life. The wind, bees, and flowers work together to spread the pollen.” – Amit Ray, Indian author and “spiritual master”
14. “It’s literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” – Napoleon Hill, entrepreneur, and author
15. “Just one great partnership with the right person can have an incredible impact on your business success.” – Janine Ogg and Jo Foster, entrepreneurs
16. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” — Helen Keller
17. “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” — Mother Teresa
18. [Our purpose] allows us to disagree without being disagreeable. To argue loudly but persuade one another. And I think it’s those things, in my mind, that keep the partnership together. That sense of empathy. That sense of trust. That sense we’re doing something for a higher purpose, fundamentally. – Jim Roth
19. In a partnership that works really well, and you have a lot of respect for the other person, you leave a lot of room for potential. So you know what the other person’s good at, but you are ready to support and cheer on that other potential. – Cameron Russell, activist for climate change and the new economy
20. “Surround yourself only with people who are going to take you higher.” — Oprah Winfrey
21. Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. – Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
22. No individual can win a game by himself. – Pelé
23. Alliances and partnerships produce stability when they reflect realities and interests. – Stephen Kinzer, American author and journalist
24. I never did anything alone. Whatever was accomplished in this country was accomplished collectively. – Golda Meir, Former Prime Minister of Israel
25. “Creating a better world requires teamwork, partnerships and collaboration, as we need an entire army of companies to work together to build a better world within the next few decades. This means corporations must embrace the benefits of cooperating together.” – Simon Mainwaring, author
26. “No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.” – Andrew Carnegie, industrialist and philanthropist
27. “In the end, it’s the person you become because of the partnership that matters most.” – Michelle Tillis Lederman, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and executive coach
28. “A true partnership is not just about celebrating the highs, but also about supporting each other through the lows.” – Anonymous
29. “Partnerships built on trust, respect, and communication can withstand any storm.” – Jennifer Haigh, American novelist and short story writer
30. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb
31. “A good partnership is like a healthy tree – it requires strong roots, constant care, and shared nourishment.” – Anonymous
32. “Partnerships are not about finding similarities; they’re about respecting differences.” – Anonymous
33. I love creating partnerships; I love not having to bear the entire burden of the creative storytelling, and when I have unions like with George Lucas and Peter Jackson, it’s really great; not only do I benefit, but the project is better for it. – Steven Spielberg, American filmmaker
34. I know that for myself, when I make a decision to partner up with somebody, it’s something I put a lot of thought into before I do it. – Buster Posey, baseball player
35. Life turns on good relationships. All of life. – Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE
36. There isn’t a single superhero; no individual is strong enough alone. – Jim Roth, cofounder of LeapFrog Investments
37. Our partnership is fluid. It’s not rocky. It’s not difficult. It flows. And sometimes, it flows down, but we manage to rise back up. – Tony Hawk, president of Tony Hawk Inc. and founder of the Skatepark Project
38. And I do just think some people want to go through life with partnerships more than others. I think that there are some people who, they want a co-founder or they want a partner who they can run the thing with and who they can have that experience with on a day-to-day basis, and then there are other people who are like, “Okay. No, I’ll just have a team of five or six people around me and I’ll be the leader, the founder, but I don’t need another person.” I just think that that’s different.” – Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta
39. “We are happy each time we disagree, because we know we’re going to learn something new; it’s going to make some sparkle. – Bertrand Piccard, cofounder, Solar Impulse
40. I think good partnerships probably value equality so that there’s no competition and I think it allows for that ebb and flow. – Blake Harrison
41. I believe the way to build a relationship as well as partnership is to have deep respect for each other. That respect allows you to share, and to encourage creativity, accolades, and all without jealousy because when one succeeds, we both succeed. – Beverly Joubert
42. You always have to put yourself in the shoes of the other person. If you don’t understand where they are coming from, if you don’t have an appreciation for their arguments and how they are seeing things, it’s very, very challenging to put a meaningful partnership together. – Jose Maria Figueres
43. In the case of the Executive and Executive Assistant, there isn’t a more accurate term to describe the relationship, except perhaps “C-suite symbiosis.” A strategic partnership is a mutually beneficial relationship with both parties working towards a common goal and that’s just what Executive Assistants and leaders do. – Adam Hergenrother & Hallie Warner, co-authors of The Founder & The Force Multiplier
What are your favorite partnership quotes? Share in the comments or email Hallie at hello@founderandforcemultiplier.com.
