Collaboration is a leading and managing philosophy: It is a transformative way of leading and managing that captures the full potential of individuals, teams, and organizations and produces consistently high value for customers and the workforce.

Collaboration is principle based: Because it is based on the principles of ownership and alignment, collaboration helps eliminate the enormous frustration and wasted effort of systems based on politics, power and personality.

Collaboration starts with a belief in the goodness of people: It is based on the premise that members of the workforce want their businesses to succeed, will take care of what they “own” (their jobs), and want to follow the direction of leaders in whom they trust.

Collaboration is the way people naturally want to work: Because it builds trust and mutual respect and breaks down the walls between people, teams, departments and divisions, collaboration is the way people naturally want to work.

Collaboration creates high trust which leads to high performance and high accountability: The best way to create a high-performance team that is truly accountable is through the trust, ownership and alignment that is built as people collaborate. Performance and accountability are natural outcomes when people contribute their experience, wisdom, and knowledge while simultaneously building ownership and alignment for the result.

Becoming a collaborative leader and creating a collaborative work culture is a journey not a destination: It took years to develop this current approach to leadership and organizations. The journey to a collaborative way of working is a daily challenge of learning and transformation.