In business it’s pretty common to toss around buzzwords when trying to make a point. Yet sometimes we hear the words so often it becomes easy to forget what they actually mean.

Take, for example, the word partnership. Now, according to the fine folks at Merriam Webster, a partnership is “close cooperation between parties having specified and joint rights and responsibilities.” It’s incredibly common for two companies who do business together to say they are partnering with one another. Yet these partnerships tend to be truly one dimensional, with one partner exchanging money for goods or services from the other partner.

If that’s really the approach toward partnerships we want to take, then I have a pretty good partnership with the pizza delivery guy in my neighborhood. I order a pizza, he brings it to my home, and we exchange cash for my dinner. I judge the state of our partnership by how fast the pizza gets here and how good it tastes. Although we’ve never discussed this, I am pretty sure he judges the state of the partnership by the size of the tip and how often I order.

Although it includes an exchange of funds and some key performance indicators, that’s a fairly limiting view of a partnership. Partnerships need to be more than transactional.

True partnerships are people centric because, after all, partnerships involve people. Partnerships have alignment. That alignment only comes by way of establishing clarity. Through that clarity comes trust. Finally, true partners are accountable to one another, and they hold one another accountable. They are not simply caretakers of key performance indicators. And more importantly, partners don’t spend all of their time looking backward. Rather, they look forward.

Those aren’t my words. Those are the thoughts of Todd Tekiele, the founder and executive principal of the City of Hospitality Group LLC. And Todd’s message (page 76) is one that has never been more important.

Today’s foodservice industry faces some pretty significant headwinds and complex challenges that continue to be unlike anything this business community has ever seen. Because so many of us were able to attend The NAFEM Show in February and the National Restaurant Association Show in May, it may seem like things are back to normal. But nothing could be farther from the case.

Because flexible work schedules have become the norm, consumer foot traffic in downtown areas and other business districts remain at a fraction of where it was four years ago. Inflation remains high and that means interest rates will remain elevated. A continued emphasis on environmental, social and governmental issues means more regulations for business owners to address. The jobs picture is as complicated and confusing as ever. Our political discourse continues to feed on fear and loathing, which only serves to shake consumer confidence further.

Indeed, it’s a complicated business environment these days and it would be pretty scary to try to go it alone. That’s where our partners come into play. By choosing to invest in each other’s success, partners not only make their businesses stronger, they make the industry they serve a better place.