The Engaging Leader
By Michael Wilkinson, CMF
Managing Director, Leadership Strategies, Inc.
“Michael, you talk a lot in your classes about the power of buy-in. You say that when leaders gain their people’s buy-in, the ‘I have to…’ turns into ‘I get to…’ And I agree, there is power in that; I agree that when my people feel like they ‘get to’ do something, they put a whole lot more into in than those times when they feel like they ‘have to’ do something. My trouble is that I can get my people to buy-in to the things I want them to do. Do I have to fire them and find people who buy-in to my program?”
Let’s be clear on this point. There are indeed times when it is appropriate to conclude that the only way to solve your buy-in issue is to “free up the future” of certain individuals on your staff. However, I believe that conclusion comes after having tried a number of different strategies to build buy-in.
As the start of this article states: There is power in buy-in. But first your people have to know the who, what, why, where, when, and how. How do you do this?
Well first, your vision tells your team where you want the organization to go, and by when. Your strategy details what you want the organization to do to get there. Your values explain how you want the organization to operate. And the roles explain who is responsible for what in making the vision happen.
When you know that your people buy in to your vision, your strategy, your values, and the roles you have defined, you can trust they will do everything they can to bring that vision into reality.
Gaining Buy-in
In putting the answers to the who, what, why, when and how, many leaders unfortunately forget the first and fundamental secret of “leadership through facilitation.”
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The Fundamental |
If they create it, they understand it, |
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Dr. Robert Zawacki from the University of Colorado in his book “Transforming the Mature Information Technology Organization” put the secret this way:
ED = RD x CD
That is, Effective Decisions = The Right Decision times Commitment to the Decision. Dr. Zawacki’s point is that the multiplication sign in the formula means that even the best decision can be rendered completely ineffective if commitment to the decision is lacking. A group of consultants might have created the 100% solution for a client, but if the client doesn’t buy-in to the solution, the effectiveness of the solution would be essentially zero. Likewise, if leaders create the solutions that their people don’t buy-in to, once more, the effectiveness is zero.
So how do you gain buy-in? I have found that engaging leaders do a few things very well to gain buy-in around solving problems.
1. Clarity. They have great clarity around purpose and product: why are we doing this, what must we have when we are done?
2. Passion. Engaging leaders are able to communicate why this is important to them and why it should be important to everyone else. They get people excited about solving the problem.
3. Empowerment. They explain what they need from each person – are they looking for a decision, a recommendation, or simply ideas? They help people feel good about the role they play.
4. Bridge-Building. Engaging Leaders listen and listen well. When others see conflict and differences, engaging leaders see similarities and, like facilitators, are able to use effective strategies for building consensus.
5. Praise and Feedback. Engaging leaders make it a point to praise the work done, the effort made. And even when the effort does not meet expectations, engaging leaders are able to lift people up while letting them know very specifically what to improve.
6. Follow-through. Engaging leaders do what they say they are going to do. And when they can’t follow-through, they are proactive in letting their people know that they cannot and why.
Are there other traits that you have found that engaging leaders have? Join in the discussion by…
Interested in learning more facilitation techniques? Check out our course, The Effective Facilitator.
Michael Wilkinson is the Managing Director of Leadership Strategies – The Facilitation Company, and a much sought after trainer, facilitator and speaker. He is a Certified Master Facilitator and a Certified Professional Facilitator. As a past president of the Southeast Association of Facilitators and a board member of the National Institute of Facilitation, Michael is a national leader in the facilitation industry. You can get more tips from either of Michael’s books, The Secrets of Facilitation or The Secrets to Masterful Meetings. You can receive a signed copy through our website.
