Welcome to the 77th episode of the Ultimate Guide to Partnering.

I was delighted to welcome a friend Ryan Risley  Principal and Chief Technology Officer of Wipfli’s business solutions consulting practice.

Wipfli is a 90-year young group of 2,500+ professionals focused by industry to help their clients navigate the challenges of tax, audit, strategy, leadership, technology, and more!

Last year Ryan led the team at Wipfli on a deep partnership with Team Rubicon and Microsoft Tech For Social Impact (TSI) - Justin Spelhaug' s organization –resulting in Wipfli being selected for the 2019 Partner for Social Impact Award from Microsoft US.  

Team Rubicon serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service, leveraging their skills and experience to help people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters and humanitarian crises.  The partnership continues to this day as the teams work closely together pushing the boundaries to forward technologies use within a disaster response and humanitarian aid community.

Ryan's story is a great example of how applying both a growth AND outward mindset can lead to the opportunity like helping Team Rubicon with their mission.  Ryan and I peel back on his philosophy towards business, what makes a great partner, and his personal journey that led him to this spot in life.

PHILOSPHY TOWARDS BUSINESS

Here are his top three considerations:  

* Mindset - Start with an Outward Mindset – Be mindful of your intentions and be sure you’re looking out for others first.  Reducing unconscious bias, limited thinking, and victim mentality.* Story Telling - Learn how to be an authentic and compelling storyteller – Master this to help others see the future they want to achieve.* The Walkaway - A Successful Walkaway is the positive things people think and say to others after an interaction with you or your team.  It’s one of the key ingredients to growth.

PARTNERSHIPS & MICROSOFT 

Ryan’s work goes across several marquee social good organizations where he and the Wipfli team are actively engaged with NetHope and Microsoft's Tech For Social Impact. The Advisory and technical teams from Wipfli are enabling impactful organizations like Medicine San Frontiers (Doctors without Borders), Save the Children, Operation Smile, and many others in their digital transformation to make progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals.  To learn more, listen to my recent episode with Justin Spelhaug, Microsoft Vice President for TSI.

Ryan believes partnerships are less successful when:

* There are missed expectations (which start at the beginning)* There is a fixed or inward mindset* One partner feels entitled (e.g. when partners expect leads without earning it).

HIS CAREER AND PERSONAL LIFE

Ryan and his lovely wife, Elizabeth, live a life filled with adventure and purpose as they look to show there is hope, love and beauty in the world.

* Starting with philanthropy at an early age, Ryan felt the need to expand his reach to community for his Eagle Scout Project* Hear about the wake-up call in college that got him on a path to success and possibly the "successful walkaway"* How he and his wife apply a "Regret Minimization Framework" to key decisions in their life.                            * Advice from his father to climb the mountains while you’re still young enough to reach the top.