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In this paper, I describe and reflect on my experience of leadership challenges in two not-for-profit transnational partnership projects. I explore the contrasting qualities of relatedness which were enacted between partners and project leaders in the two projects, and describe how the desire for recognition emerged as a theme within them. I then draw out the challenges of facilitating collaboration within the partnerships and describe how I developed reflective practices through inquiry to sustain myself in partner and consultancy roles.
The issues which I explore are specific to my experience of facilitating and of being a partner in cross-sectoral partnerships in the UK and European not-for-profit sectors. In my reflections, I offer a framework for understanding some of the flashpoints which are likely to arise, in my experience, in any inter-organisational collaboration. In that sense, I offer an approach for thinking about the leadership qualities needed for enabling collaboration within partnerships, which goes beyond the particular stories I am about to tell.
The structure of the paper is as follows:
first, I set out my definition of effective partnership and the context in which it was developed;
next, I tell the story of the two partnerships;
then I introduce the theme of ‘recognition’ as it emerged within my experience of the partnership projects and draw from Benjamin's concept of intersubjectivity to consider the leadership skills needed to enable collaboration and learning within partnership;
finally I explore the concepts of mirroring and triangulation as a means of
further conceptualising the challenges to leadership and learning within the two partnerships;
in conclusion, I return to the specific context of my experience, and speculate on the transferability and usefulness of my analysis to other practitioners.