Other considerations and related topics

The Elements of a Good Partnership Partnership is a term that carries with it two types of implication. The most typically assumed meaning is that relating to business enterprise, indicating that certain individuals or parties are joined in a mutual set of goals and through some type of contractual arrangement. But partnership is also frequently understood to refer to a personal relationship in which some mutual goals or interests have precipitated a shared pursuit of some kind. This may mean, amongst many other possibilities, the maintenance of a marriage, the promotion of a cause or even simple orientation toward a concrete task like restoring an automobile. Though the conditions of personal and professional partnerships are likely to differ vastly, in many ways, they both thrive upon many of the same elements. That which makes a partnership good will tend to hold true in either context. Indeed, most people will tend to value such traits as honesty, integrity, consideration and sensitivity in a partner. But this really only scratches the surface. In a professional context, there are a number of conditions for good partnership which are meant to hold as inherently true. Many of these are defined by the letter of the law. Such is demonstrated by the definition of such formal partnerships as provided by the Human-edited Financial Dictionary, which indicates that "a partnership is a form of unincorporated business with multiple individuals (partners) managing and liable for debts." (FDICT, 1) This denotes that there are assumed responsibilities in a partnership which are assumed betwixt the partners and that therefore a good partner will conform to the expectations surrounding these responsibilities. To the advantage of business partners seeking to define the quality of a partnership is the presence of myriad laws indicating proper behavior and basic partnership expectations. No such advantage exists for individuals navigating the challenges of interpersonal partnership. Often voluntary, sometimes situational and always complex insofar as personal partnerships are based upon the ability to channel two fully independent wills toward a unified outcome or set of outcomes, personal relationships require a deep commitment on the side of both parties. The presence of equal commitment to the goals and feelings upon which a partnership is precipitated and an equal commitment to one another are instrumental to the creation of a good partnership. It is only through this element that joined parties can hope to enjoy mutual respect and the simultaneous ability to assert themselves independently. If we are to apply the technical definition for a civil partnership- implying a business in this case-we may nonetheless consider the qualities there mentioned as applying by analogy to the quality of interpersonal relations as well. Here, it is indicated that a partnership may be seen as "a nominate contract between individuals who, in a spirit of cooperation, agree to carry on an enterprise; contribute to it by combining property, knowledge or activities; and share its profit." (Wikipedia, 1) This definition provides further consideration of such qualities as open communication, a willingness to share in success and consequence and perhaps most importantly, the capacity to achieve compromise. These are all elements which the discussion demonstrates are vital to the effectiveness and health of a partnership. The distinct qualities which make individuals social, familial and goal-oriented are those which also make human beings prone to success in cooperative enterprise. The nature of the partnership is predicated on this very concept, and the elements which denote a quality partnership should therefore be instinctual. Works Cited: