People support what they create.

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June 27th, 2023

READ TIME: 2 minutes & 58 seconds

In my past life, I was once a basketball coach for 12 years.

In that time, there were a lot of lessons that I learned through that experience. I would honestly attribute a lot of what I learned about what it means to be a leader from those times.

I can recall one season in particular where I had a leadership gut check.

In this particular season, we had just 4 wins and sixteen losses. It was early in my coaching tenure and I knew that if things were going to be different, we had a lot to turn around.

So at the end of the season, we debriefed with the whole team and it wasn’t long before how my players really felt came to the surface.

”The environment feels negative.”

”We spend more time talking about the mistakes.”

”All we focus on is the plays.”

Ouch.

As a young head coach, it was hard to hear, but it was a turning point.

I could have easily corrected them and negated their perspectives, but I listened and I was proud of them for being open and honest with me.

It was truly a rewarding experience. I learned many lessons from coaching that helped me tremendously on my leadership journey.

So I and my staff went back to the drawing board and during my time reflecting, I had an epiphany.

When I looked deeper into what my team had to say, what wasn’t immediately obvious became clear.

We were failing to let them in on the vision of where we wanted to go.

If we were going to turn this team around and create something that everyone wanted to be a part of, we had to create a shared vision that everyone could get behind. We decided to be intentional about sharing positive feedback as often as we could. We made time for one-on-one conversations, as well as team discussions.

All during this time, this quote by Ken Blanchard one of the most renowned leaders of our time was playing in the back of my head:

Fast forward to the following season, we finished with twenty-four wins and only four losses!

The key to success was getting everyone on the team bought in.

And if you’re struggling to get buy-in from your team stop looking for anything outside of yourself to blame and ask yourself if you’re the reason why.

Chances are, you are.

It doesn’t matter what arena you’re in, without a culture and a shared vision, your company will be stagnant and without progression.

People support what they create

This is a fundamental leadership principle.

In other words, “Buy-in.”

Gone are the one-way street methods of leadership where everything comes from one person and people just do what they’re told.

If you want people to weather the storm, commit themselves, and take initiative they are going to need to feel connected to the larger vision.

The result? The culture that everyone desires to be a part of.

This is what I learned from those two vastly different seasons of coaching. The ‘culture’ that we had was a direct reflection of how much we involved the team in being a part of what we were building.

When they felt safe, trusted, rewarded, valued, and that they mattered they gave their all.

If you want people to follow you they need 3 things:

• Trust

• Autonomy

• Reward

There are leaders out there who will blame anyone but themselves for failing to get their teams to buy in.

When in reality what is required is taking a hard look in the mirror and asking yourself where you are falling short on supporting your team.

3 Steps to take right now

Take inventory

Ask yourself;

1. How conscious have you been about including people in what’s being created?

2. Have the individuals on your team been collaborating with the vision?

Be honest and allow your response to be a catalyst for action through reflection.

Dismantle the ‘follower’ mindset.

Ditch the notion that people should be following you just because you have a position title that makes you a decision-maker.

This isn’t the way anymore and it doesn’t work.

We live in a society where people want to feel a part of the process, they want to feel connected.

To be honest, people just want to be heard.

Hold space for diverse voices

Invite people to the conversation.

It doesn’t matter if you ever implement a suggestion that someone made, but simply asking for their feedback in the larger conversation, asking to develop a plan, or whatever else sets their heart on fire can get them bought in.

There are a lot of people who have grown up not participating in their own life, giving people that power back can be a healing experience.

Go Deeper on This Topic

🎙️ Brendon Bouchard’s podcast episode on “How to get people to follow you.”

📚 Ken Blanchard’s, “ Leading at a higher level.”

📲 Adam Grant’s Tweet about having a shared vision

I hope this helps you or a leader in your circle.

Until next time,

Pierre Inspires

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I hope this helps you or a leader in your circle.

Until next time, PierreInspires

P.S. If you have any questions, thoughts, or additional stories to share, please don't hesitate to reach out. Let's support and learn from each other as we strive to become the best leaders we can be.