Recently I came across a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, “If you want a good spouse, then be one.”

So true! And it is even more appropriate in our business relationships: If you want to have a good, strategic business partner then show the way by being one yourself.

This is easy to say, especially when economic conditions are good; but not so much when things get tough, events come fast and “business happens.” That’s when it’s good to have a solid foundation of guiding principles, such as trust, integrity and reciprocity, along with open communication and a commitment to the relationship, not self-interest. A what’s-in-it-for-we (WIIFWe) mindset can get you over a lot of hurdles.

Roosevelt also said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ 

 Good things will follow.

Read more great quotes from Eleanor Roosevelt and others on the Positivity Blog. It’s a site worth exploring.

Image: Eleanor Roosevelt by Boston Public Library via Flickr CC