It helps if you…
- Have a track record with someone
- Share goals
- Have a similar work ethic
- Have enough experience to have some perspective
- Are doing okay (aren’t desperate; can [let them] leave)
- Listen
- Always have something good to say
- Know who’s doing what
- Keep promises
- Share the assumption that you’re committed to the work, to doing it well, and to doing it together
- Assume the best
- Have someone you can talk to who gets it
- Achieve more together than apart
- Like people
- Want to do the right thing because you care (rather than because it’s the policy or the law)
- Know what you’re doing
- Have teammates who can offer a different perspective
- Are the opposite of touchy
- Can be clear about what you need, and what needs to change
- That is, do difficult conversations well
- Are sufficiently tactful
- Enjoy working together
- Want to fix things that are broken