Do you get push back from your team members when you try to do something new? If you are tired of getting complaints, a list of reasons why your idea won’t work, and non-compliance to your requests for change, I’m going to suggest that you are not effectively selling your corporate vision.
Years ago, as a new business owner, I had a lot of ideas for how to grow our company. I am a big picture thinker. Details are not my forte. I would present my ideas to my team, and they had a tendency to shoot many of them down. I would go into meetings feeling excited and come out feeling a little defeated.
And then one day, I told myself, “I’m the boss! If I want this to happen, then everyone else needs to get on board!” And I went into the meeting and forced my agenda. People did get in line, but no one was celebrating with me, or excited. They were just doing what I told them they had to do.
It would be easy, and foolish, to just blame the team in these types of situations. I see many business owners struggling in this area. They have ideas that aren’t being implemented in the business because they can’t seem to get everyone on the same page. That stops now!
Here are 5 steps to effectively sell your corporate vision.
- Get crystal clear on what you want. No one wants to follow a leader that doesn’t’ know where they are going. If you are a big picture thinker, and there are no details in the plan, the team will doubt the lack of clarity. Take time to fully develop your plan and be prepared to answer questions before you make any announcements or take it to the team. Sometimes small business owners share their ideas too soon. We are still in the idea phase and we tell the team our thoughts to get feedback. It causes unnecessary worry!
- Enroll your team into the destination. One of the benefits of having a big family is that I’ve got teenagers and a kindergartner that both ask “Why” A LOT! It’s human nature. I tell my kids, “Clean your room.” And they ask “Why?” We do this backwards. Instead of stating the work you want them to do first, and telling them why second. It works better when you tell them the end goal first, and then state the work second. If you state the work first, your team members look at change and they see headache. They see potential problems. And they see needing to learn new skills. You see the end result. They don’t, unless you show them. So before you say, “Clean your room.” Make sure they know where all of this change will take the company, and them.
- Leaders like to innovate. Team members like consistency. It’s important to understand that there is a level of disconnect between business owner and team member that is natural and predictable. Leaders love change, they love improvement, they love innovation. The average team member loves consistency, stability, and doing a good job at what they know how to do. They don’t love change. So when I am making changes, I first sell the destination. Second, I help them see where stability and consistency fit in. And then I show them the areas we are innovating and changing. It helps them to feel more secure during the changes.
Create 80% of the plan and then take it to your advisors. People support what they help to create. The best way to get your key players on board is to come to them with a clear, well laid out plan. Enroll them into the destination. And then, ask them what you are missing, and how to make the roll out better. They will take you that last 20%. The plan will be more solid than it was without them. They’ll help you see problems before they happen. The core advisors on your team will feel valued and trusted, and they will be more supportive and excited in rolling out the changes with the rest of the team and the clients.- Incentivize those that contribute to the change. Create some short term incentives for team members that excel during the change. If you are changing your service line up, consider offering bonuses for the first 10 deals that are switched over to the new service agreement. If you are changing software, offer lunch for the first department to be fully switched over into the new platform. It’s a lot less expensive than spending months and months fighting your team on new changes. And is infinitely more expensive than losing the enrollment of your team into your common cause.
Change in business is good and necessary. Without change and innovation we end up stagnant and stale. Your team will go with you if you lay the foundation to enroll the team into your corporate vision.