Creating Buy-In

One of the terms that used to drive me crazy when I was in the SEAL Teams was “buy-in.” When a new initiative had been introduced by the leadership, it’s success or failure was often seen as dependent on whether the guys bought into it or not. This may be hard to believe because I’m talking about the military where “orders” rule the day, but leaders across many professions face the same challenges. On sports teams, challenges around buy-in can relate to coaching staffs as they work to get their players to be “all-in”, and “trust the process” towards achieving excellence.

In the book Radical INCLUSION, Brauffman reminds us of the power of belonging. The science, supported by numerous studies, tells us that when people feel a sense of belonging to a group or organization, they respond positively both physically and mentally. When people feel like they belong they demonstrate “a willingness to set aside personal interests in order to advance the interests of the group”. This could also define buy-in.

So how do we create a sense of belonging in our people? To start, you need to understand where individual members can add value to specific aspects of your program. Identify the importance of their role to an initiative or process and invite them to take part. Create opportunities for them to excel. Seek and welcome their input. Provide rapid feedback to help them to understand how their involvement is impacting the group. When your people feel their efforts in support of the group are meaningful or can imagine how their input will positively contribute to the cause, you’re creating buy-in.

Begin the process of creating that sense of belonging with your team's influencers. They inevitably create buy-in from their internal tribe of micro-influencers. Eventually, the buy-in you see will be a product of the sense of belonging each individual feels.