Roles follow Function not Title

Form follows function applies to the structure of the Strategic Relationship you choose to enter into, ranging from a Partnership or Alliance to a Merger, Acquisition, or Joint Venture. The same principle applies to the roles people fulfill in making the relationship work.

Roles follow function.

Consider two of the most important roles in a Strategic Relationship: the Executive Sponsor and the Strategic Relationship Manager.

An Executive Sponsor is not defined by a job title. The Executive Sponsor is defined by the functions that must be performed. In the case of the Executive Sponsor, those functions are few but essential. Once they have said “yes” to the relationship, their functions are to cast the Shared Vision internally and to appropriate stakeholders, and to remove Barriers that others in the Strategic Relationship do not have the authority to remove.

One organization's Executive Sponsor may be the CEO. Another's may be a division president, business-unit leader, or government minister. In a Strategic Relationship involving three or more organizations, the titles may differ across every participating organization. The titles can change. The required functions do not. The role is the same. The Executive Sponsor can say yes to the relationship. They cast the Shared Vision. They remove Barriers others cannot.

The same is true of the Strategic Relationship Manager. The role exists because someone must coordinate, communicate, facilitate, monitor, and escalate the day-to-day work of the relationship. Whether the person carrying out those functions is called an alliance manager, account executive, channel manager, program leader, integration director, or something else is secondary.

This distinction between a person’s title and a person’s role in a Strategic Relationship matters because too often executives are fooled by focusing on organizational charts.

Roles follow function—not titles and not boxes on an organization chart.

Start with the work that must be done. Define the functions. Determine who has the authority required. Then put a name next to the Strategic Relationship role.

The organization chart tells you who has a title. It does not tell you whether the roles necessary for a successful Strategic Relationship are actually being performed.

Roles follow function.