Collaboration with the right partner can be the key to unlocking results that neither of you could attain on your own. But it can be challenging to convince someone to collaborate with you, especially if you don’t know them well, if there’s a (real or perceived) power differential in your relationship, or if you’re nervous about asking for help. So what does it take to convince a reluctant potential partner?

If they’re a friend or someone who owes you a favor, you might be able to leverage your existing relationship to cajole them into helping you out. Of course, that doesn’t mean pressuring them with a mafia-style “offer they can’t refuse” — but the personal connection and social norms around reciprocity mean that as long as you ask for their help clearly and directly, they are likely to be fairly open to working with you.

But if you don’t already have a strong, pre-existing relationship, you’ll have to rely on a rational demonstration that a partnership would be mutually beneficial. That means carefully considering their perspective and highlighting exactly what you have to offer them. For instance, if you’re looking to convince a celebrity to speak to an academic class you teach, you might not have the budget for a speaking fee — but the engagement could be presented to them as a chance to be viewed more seriously, which they might also find valuable.

Through my experience advising clients and collaborating on various consulting engagements, articles, and even Broadway investments, I’ve found that there are six types of “collaboration capital” that can help you convince someone to collaborate with you. If you can offer one (or ideally several) of the following forms of capital — and clearly articulate how it will help you and your colleague reach your shared goal — you’ll be far more likely to get them on board.

[Here are the first two types.]

1. Sweat Equity

Here’s an almost universal law: if you’re the one suggesting the partnership, you’ll likely need to do most of the work. Especially if your prospective partner has more power or status than you, the extra work is likely a fair trade — after all, the collaboration will likely afford you opportunities that you never would have had access to on your own, no matter how hard you might have been willing to work. Plus, since you’re the one who initiated the project, you’re probably more motivated about making it happen. Be prepared to write the entire book (and have them weigh in with edits), set up all the meetings and logistics (and have them parachute in at the end to seal the deal), and the like.

2. Subject-Matter Knowledge

If you’ve done in-depth research or have deep subject-matter expertise, that can make your proposed collaboration particularly enticing. For example, I’m often approached about collaborating on articles — but I took note when my now-frequent collaborator, David Lancefield, reached out to me last year. He explained that he had conducted a unique and exhaustive survey of how startups are bringing AI to the field of executive coaching, and that he was interested in working together on turning that research into an article. Given my strong interest in the topic, the offer was appealing — I could bring my expertise around synthesizing and presenting data effectively for a business audience, while David’s research provided valuable insight that I wouldn’t have had access to on my own. I agreed to his offer, and we ended up developing this HBR article (along with another colleague, Dan Cable).