Collaboration isn’t a new idea. You see it everywhere:

• Spotify + Starbucks
• Apple + Hermes
• The Global Fund + Gap: “PRODUCT (RED)”
• GoPro + Red Bull: “Stratos”

At OneHope, we recognize the value of collaboration. We’ve seen success in our partnership with Evangelism Explosion to produce a program that has trained millions of children around the world to share their faith with millions more. OneHope’s collaboration with YouVersion produced the Bible App For Kids, which has become the #1 kids Bible app in the world. Lead Today, produced through our partnership with John Maxwell, is being integrated in high schools around the world to teach biblical principles of leadership.

While I’m starting to see more partnerships like those we’ve enjoyed innovate and invigorate the ministry world, there are often huge barriers to overcome to make them happen.

Eminent death

Like all things, even ministries experience a slow deterioration. Like a frog in a kettle. it’s easy to overlook the slow drift towards irrelevance.

Ask yourself: When was the last time we assessed the relevance and fruitfulness of our ministry? Who is fresh and effective in our field, and how can I learn from them?

Millennial Factor

We are in the age of Millennials in leadership. This generation does everything in community. They are used to fact-checking, geared for being social, and not wired to work in isolation the way previous generations were

Ask yourself: How are we cultivating our Millennial leaders in their own style, and what are we doing to nurture an inter-generational workforce?

Digital age

Technology has the power to make people a big deal overnight – and the reverse is true, too. You can be crowded out of the market in the blink of an eye, falling into irrelevance as quickly as someone else starts trending

Ask yourself: How can I find, cultivate, and curate the best new ideas? Who is currently successful or on the cutting edge of what we are doing? How can I work with and learn from them?

Scarcity

There’s been a drastic shift in the American donor. They have moved from institutional to ideational giving

Ask yourself: How are we adapting to appeal and communicate to the new generation of donors while continuing to serve our existing donor base? Who is doing well in this space that I can learn from or partner with?

Powerhouse organizations are starting to realize that it’s collaborate or die.

Increasingly as we’re seeing ministries work to overcome these barriers, many end up self-reflecting and returning to their original vision. This return to original vision kicks the door wide open for collaboration and understanding that we are better together than we are alone. Ministries driven by original vision and led by transformational leaders find each other and collaborate for maximum Kingdom impact. I believe this honors Christ and his call for us to work together in unity.

We are better together than we are alone.

“I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:23 NLT).

Vision + transformational leaders x collaboration = maximum Kingdom impact

Without collaboration in unity, we won’t see the world transform. It’s our passion for a shared outcome that drives us to work together.

My friend John Maxwell is a great example of a transformational leader who has exponentially multiplied influence by partnering with others. He recently shared a valuable lesson on collaboration with up-and-coming Millennial leaders. Over the years, he has learned that it might take him months or years to craft and refine a concept. However, recently, he’s discovered that in sharing a raw, unfinished thought, it sometimes only takes one conversation with someone else to move the idea from good to great. He’s seen the power of collaboration and is one of the most agile, transformational leaders I know — inspiring us all to share and collaborate sooner!

Ask yourself: What is my driving passion? Who else has the same desire to see transformation in this area? How can I take the first step to partnering with them?

 

Rob is the President of OneHope and blogs regularly at robhoskins.onehope.net.

Read more by Rob Hoskins at goodnewsfl.org/author/rob-hoskins/