Earning Partner Trust

Henley said she vows to “always fight for” partners.

“I want partners to know that. I will always fight alongside you, but I won’t fight against you. That’s not what partnerships are, and that doesn’t mean that we’re going to always agree. But it means that together we’re going to come to what is best for our end-user clients so we can deliver results,” she said. 

For example, Henley recalls a time in her public sector days when a partner came to her looking to escalate an issue. She told the partner she understood where they were coming from but advised that they not escalate this particular problem.

And the partner responded well, she said.

“The partner said, ‘You have built the trust and the credibility with my team that if you tell us to stand down, we will.’ And that meant more to me than anything,” she said. “It’s not, ‘You’re right,’ or ‘I’m right.’ … It was that I had earned enough political capital with that partner over the years that he trusted me.”

And that’s a feeling of trust Henley said she never wants to break with her partners.

“There are going to be times where I tell you that you have to stand down, or in some cases that Cisco is wrong, or in some cases that you’re wrong. But I want to build the trust that when I say that, that you believe me,” she said.