"“It's as simple as this. When people don't unload their opinions and feel like they've been listened to, they won't really get on board.” - Patrick Lencioni, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
Before we dive into creating buy-in, it is important to say that commitment is not consensus. Some leaders want to find a solution where everyone is happy, but all you are doing is compromising. If you are diluting the best solution to reach resolution then you are failing the team and business. You should never settle for mediocracy, delay or dilution. You are secretly hoping for acquiescence but really you are nurturing lack of commitment. Compromise might feel like the right thing, but really you are caving in under conflict, trying to appease, taking the easy route over the right route. That is not the LeaderX way.
Commitment is about a group of individuals, focused on delivering the best results for the team, buying into a decision which they may not have initially agree on.
It is the ability to defy consensus. It is daring leadership. To sit with indecision temporarily in the pursuit of excellence is worth the discomfort. Remember only fools rush in. Leaders who resist compromise focus on co-creation. They enable teams to take the sum of all ideas and solutions and create something better, bigger or bolder.
When teams have entered healthy conflict, debate, discussion and challenge, and all possible opinions have been aired, leaders and the team are able to make rational and informed decisions. Weighing in and helping the development of ideas and decisions means that members have become part of the solution. They are emotionally invested in the process. This gives them clarity over why the decision was made and which options were dismissed and why. Members are able to share this journey with others and influence others to get on board.
A case study
In 2012 my organisation began a time/space study. Consultants measured office and desk usage throughout the day and discovered that 50% of the time, office space was unoccupied. Behind the scenes, the facilities and HR teams were creating an agile working plan which would eventually lead to remote working, flexible desks and selling multiple offices around the country.
As a leader, I was recruited as an agile ambassador. The decision had already been made and my job was to win the hearts and minds of others. Now was the tricky bit. I was not on board in anyway shape or form. I had so many questions, too many issues and I had no forum to air them.
I agreed, but I was not onboard and unable to wholeheartedly sell something that I did not believe in. I had the courage to enter into conflict and challenge the plan. I asked the team to hear my concerns in their delivery plan and to get the back story - the big WHY.
During these forums, we were able to understand the business case, the big call to arms and accept that something needed to change. I had a fixed view that my teams had to work together on projects and needed desks. During the process I was equally challenged that if I trusted my team, why would I be concerned if they were working from multiple locations. The debate helped changed my mindset and embrace agile working, but also helped the team to identify their "tell" approach would not work. Together we co-created a new approach.
LeaderX drives commitment by having the courage to enter into conflict. When they are sure every stone has been turned and every idea has been explored, they can confidently make a decision. They take responsibility if the wrong decision was made, based on all of the information available at the time.
When you allow people to weigh in, understand the decision making process, they leave the room committed to support the decision. Humans are incredible. We are able to hold two opposing views at the same time. We may believe our own idea is best, yet still support the leader, wholeheartedly, in the decision that was made. All they need is to feel heard, understood, considered and included.
Reflection
When have you experienced this for yourself?
What leadership qualities enabled you to buy-in to a decision that you initially opposed?
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