3 Ways to Gain Buy-In So Others Want to Follow

The perfect leadership scenario is when the leader, along with those being led, both desire success equally. They pull together in the same direction. Fantastic organizations and exceptional teams experience this.

Unfortunately, this experience isn’t common. Most leaders tend to rely on poor methods of coercion (i.e. “you’ll do this or else…”) or methods of exchange (i.e. “I’ll give you x if you do y…”).

Gaining buy-in is not difficult. If you have mastered the basic attitudes and skills of effective leadership, three simple approaches will help you gain buy-in and create a team that pulls with you.

CONNECT YOUR VISION TO WHAT DRIVES YOUR TEAM: There are many leaders, with vision, who are concerned that others may not really get behind them. When the direction comes from you (from “the top”), the key is to take time to understand what really drives and motivates those you lead. Once you know that, connect your vision to that motivation. Help those you lead clearly see that your vision is a pathway to accomplishing something that they value. Hint: People are primarily motivated by things that help them feel significant, safe, or satisfied. Money is an unreliable motivator and won’t maintain sustained successful efforts.

Troubleshooting:

• Confirm you understand what really motivates those you lead. Confirm there are no conflicting motivations.
• Confirm you have established sufficient credibility on follow-through. If your track record isn’t great, you’ll need to explore how to earn or gain sufficient trust to move forward.
• Confirm you’ve sufficiently communicated a connection between accomplishing your vision and satisfying the motivations of others.

HELP YOUR TEAM CREATE THE VISION: Many leaders feel like the big direction needs to come from them. Not true. Leaders just need to ensure that the right direction has been clearly identified. The more you encourage those you lead be a part of creating the vision, the more buy-in they will automatically have. Hint: This may take a little longer on the front-end but usually makes implementation much easier and faster.

Troubleshooting:

• Confirm that people feel their input was genuinely engaged.
• Confirm that new ideas weren’t automatically squelched.
• Confirm that the path between the big picture and the needs of today has been sufficiently built.

USE THE VISION TO BUILD A PLAN TOGETHER: If you’d like to reduce the amount of management oversight required, and reduce unnecessary delays, plan for implementation together. Engage as many people who will be directly impacted by this process as possible. Hint: If there is significant controversy or emotion around the topic, many people to engage, and you don’t know how, or if, you are closely tied to the vision, consider hiring a skilled facilitator to help.

Troubleshooting:

• If the direction is “top-down” you may encounter resistance at this stage. Engage it, take time to understand it, and address the underlying issues.
• Resistance also comes from personality types. Big-picture thinkers tend to be excited at the beginning but tune out around details. Help them see the value of staying engaged. Detail people struggle with the big picture and will engage once they start to see how it all fits together.
• If you encounter conflicts of interest (whether real or perceived), or a leader so closely tied to a vision that they cannot effectively lead a change planning process, you may need to bring in a professional facilitator.