You have all the right people on your team. You’re all set! Well…. not exactly. As I talked about in Get the Right People on the Bus, having the right people on your team is key, but it is not enough by itself. If I haven’t mentioned this already, I can guarantee I will say it many times again: creating a successful culture is not easy, and it is not a short process. Like most things worth working towards, it takes time and dedication to get it done, and get it done right. If you believe you have the right people on your side, then it’s time to take it a step further: getting them to truly buy in, specifically buy into the right vision.
Explain The Why
A quick way to lose someone’s buy-in is to tell them what is expected without explaining why it matters. In his Ted Talk Start with Why, Simon Sinek emphasizes the importance of starting with the why. People are a lot more likely to commit to something when they understand the reasoning behind it than not. As I – and I’m sure you too – have seen, when leaders skip the why, and only state rules or standards, the response is not ideal. They may get some to comply, but rarely do they get people to truly commit.
What Does Buy-In Look Like?
Proof of buy-in is when people are no longer just meeting the minimum requirements. It is putting in the maximum effort, even if nobody will ever know. It is when individuals start to hold themselves and others accountable without being forced to. It is when they are no longer doing something because they have to, but because they genuinely believe in it.
During my time overseeing academic standards in my fraternity,I experienced firsthand the struggle of getting people to buy-in. When I implemented higher academic measures, the initial response from many was resistance. Some viewed the new standards as an attempt to control them rather than an effort to improve them. True buy-in did not happen until I was able to consistently and clearly communicate the “why” behind these standards: we are all students first, working towards our future, and without that as our foundation, this does not exist. Once that became clear, the general mindset shifted, and we achieved the highest chapter GPA during my four years there.
Buy-in is powerful and necessary for a successful culture to thrive. But it must be clearly directed toward the right vision, or you run the risk of people buying into comfort, bad habits and low standards. Think about the different teams that you have been part of. Which ones were you fully bought in to – and which ones not? Why do you think this was?
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