- March 19, 2024
The best leaders refrain from giving people answers, decisions, or directions. They almost never tell people what they want them to do or why they should do it. Instead, they offer a view and ask others to get involved with a simple question: What do they want to do together?
People get on board slow-moving trains where leaders ask them to collaborate to build a railroad. Buy-in always starts with collaboration and gains steam from the dialogue that ensues.
The most skillful leaders know exactly where they want the team and organization to go, but they get there by asking others. They aren’t scared that the team will forge a different path or set a poor direction because they have planted the seed in many conversations before the idea or change fully materializes. They don’t sell or direct. They involve and collaborate. And buy-in is the result.