Getting Buy-In: How to Create Commitment, Not Compliance!
Those of you who are professional football fans may be familiar with the mess of an organization that is (or should I say ‘was’) the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have been the laughing-stock of the NFL for the past 20 years. The ineptitude got so bad during the 2018 season that the team fired head coach Hue Jackson (who had amassed a record of 3-36-1) after 8 games and replaced him on an interim basis with defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. I must also mention that at the same time they also fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley.
This meant the then running backs coach Freddie Kitchens was elevated to offensive coordinator for the rest of the season. What’s fascinating to me is one of the first things Kitchens did was how he went about getting buy-in from the players.
He did something that I have never heard of a coach doing before that was pure genius. Shortly after he took over, Kitchens went to star quarterback Baker Mayfield and asked him for his 5 favorite plays, he then did the same thing with the offensive line group, the running back group, the receiver group, and the tight end group.
The genius part is that not only did he find out which plays they were most comfortable running, but he was also getting buy-in. You see, by having their voice heard the players felt some ownership and probably felt a great responsibility to make the plays they suggested work.
In my opinion, Kitchens is a perfect example of…
The Importance of Transferring Ownership for Getting Buy-In
As a leader, one of the most important things you can do to both enable and empower employees is to transfer ownership. And not only does it enable and empower your employees, but it is also fantastic for getting buy-in.
As Connie Dieken says in her great book, Talk Less, Say More: Three Habits to Influence Others and Make Things Happen:
“Transferring ownership means shifting your ideas and decisions to others so they will embrace them and act on them. It has enormous consequences for both personal and organizational buy-in. It’s the difference between others feeling actively involved in their destiny and, therefore, committed to it versus feeling forced to comply. Buy-in leads people to change behaviors, decisions, and actions.” 1
The big idea is this – you want to create an environment where people feel as if they are volunteering and not merely surrendering to your commands.
Why it Works!
You can make people go along with your requests and demands…temporarily. But at the end of the day, you can quickly be rendered powerless if others individually or collectively decide to overturn or ignore you.
However, if you let them own it, they are much more likely to get it done.
According to Dieken:
“Self-discovery is the most persuasive argument. It’s powerful when people feel they’ve arrived at a decision by themselves. Therefore, if you transfer your ideas and decisions to others so they can take ownership, you’re more likely to get positive results.” 1
Nike and Ritz-Carlton
Let’s take a couple of corporate examples to demonstrate.
Nike doesn’t tell you to buy their products. Instead, they show athletes who have fulfilled their athletic potential while using their products. They then let you connect the dots yourself and believe the products will help your performance too – leading you to buy them.
Or how about Ritz-Carlton? The hotel chain is famous for empowering and enabling front-line employees by transferring ownership. A great example of this is that every employee is empowered encouraged to spend up to $2,000/guest to fix or improve a guest’s experience.
It’s All About Autonomy
Let’s flashback to a recent post we did on intrinsic motivation. Recall intrinsic motivation is the motivation that comes from within yourself; that is, doing something for the sheer pleasure of doing it.
Also recall there are 3 elements of intrinsic motivation we can use to ignite people’s intrinsic fire: autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Autonomy – being able to direct our own lives and have some control over what we do.
Mastery – having the opportunity for improvement.
Purpose – being part of something that we are connected to.
Transferring ownership to create buy-in really is all about autonomy or feeling we have some control over our lives and what we do.
3 Tactics for Getting Buy-In
Let’s now explore 3 tactics that Dieken provides for getting buy-in.
(1) Use Peer Power
There is no doubt that we are persuaded by the opinions and actions of others. In a nutshell, that is what using peer power is all about. Just think about how those late-night infomercials persuade us to buy stuff we don’t need using their average man/woman on the street testimonials. A few ways to use peer power are as follows:
(i) Seek commitment from opinion leaders or key influencers
There is always someone who’s opinion is respected more than others. The idea is to get them on your side early on in the process.
(ii) Use an alternating format
An alternating format according to Dieken is a strategy used by Oprah Winfrey: “In her daily TV program, Oprah shifts between talking to her guests and speaking directly to the audience. You can do this in meetings by addressing everyone as a group and then keying in on powerful people who will back you up and lend you their support.” 1
(iii) Salt the tip jar
Smart bartenders salt the tip jar first with dollar bills. Their reasoning is that by using social proof that others have tipped you should too. You can do something similar by getting written testimonials from others that will get their backing and have others follow suit.
(2) Reveal Your Reasoning
This one really gets to the purpose portion of the elements of autonomy, mastery, and purpose that we discussed earlier. It is much easier to enlist an army to get behind you if you explain the ‘why’ to them first. A few ways to do this are as follows:
(i) Get out front with it quickly
As Dieken says, “Don’t let people draw their own conclusions. Don’t allow uninformed people to convince others that your idea or decision is not in their best interest.” 1
(ii) Define, don’t defend
Rather than defend a challenging situation, let them know what you are going to do to overcome it.
(iii) Put it in writing
When something is in writing it gets real and shows commitment very quickly.
(iv) Get them to write it down, too
When others write stuff down it gains their commitment as they want to live up to it.
(v) Let them volunteer, not surrender
Let them reach their own conclusions by leading them down that path.
(3) Let it Flow
This section discusses getting others to speak up:
(i) Reach out and encourage others to speak up
This one is getting out ahead of things by breaking the barrier and setting up a way for others to give feedback.
(ii) Respond to that feedback
Once people say something, they need to hear from you. So, the idea is to never ignore and instead acknowledge and potentially how you will make improvements.
(iii) Use smart Q&A
As Dieken advises: “In meetings, always end on a positive question from a peer. Tie your answer back to your key point to capitalize on commitments.” 1
(iv) Reinforce urgency
Lastly, many of us work better under deadlines, so the idea is to keep the commitment flowing by moving it from the back burner to the front burner.
You May Be Wondering How It Worked Out for Kitchens and the Browns
Kitchens tactic worked like a charm as the offense put up huge numbers and the team went 5-3 in their last 8 games.
The fact that he listened to them not only helped with getting buy-in from them, but it also went a long way towards gaining their trust.
His strategy for getting buy-in also worked out extremely well for him personally.
On January 12, 2019 Kitchen was named the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Until next time, Go Browns!…and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
P.S. Wanna know more? Check out the entire book.
Use it or Lose It
The tactics and sub-tactics that we discussed for getting buy-in are as follows:
(1) Use peer power
(i) Seek commitment from opinion leaders or key influencers
(ii) Use an alternating format
(iii) Salt the tip jar
(2) Reveal your reasoning
(i) Get out front with it quickly
(ii) Define, don’t defend
(iii) Put it in writing
(iv) Get them to write it down, too
(v) Let them volunteer, not surrender
(3) Let it flow
(i) Reach out and encourage others to speak up
(ii) Respond to that feedback
(iii) Use smart Q&A
(iv) Reinforce urgency
When to Use It
Use these tactics for getting buy-in from others.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of these tactics for getting buy-in? Do you have any other suggestions for getting buy-in? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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References
1 Talk Less, Say More: Three Habits to Influence Others and Make Things Happen
Great ideas. When employees feel respected and trusted, they will usually put more pride and effort into their work. They will be more innovative and will likely share their ideas when meetings are held. This is when they can collaborate with their peers and exchange ideas for improvement.
Hi Eileen, Thre is no doubt about – giving people autonomy and getting them to understand the bigger purpose is huge! Thanks for reading and commenting! Rick