Kathy Shanley, the Founder of Statice, served 30 years in the C-suite. She helps leaders and businesses level up their leadership skills.
Many organizational leaders start off on the right foot by having an established vision and agreed-upon strategy. However, few are able to execute on their strategy successfully. Oftentimes, it’s because they overlook the importance of building internal alignment by communicating the big picture and sharing the path they have for achieving that vision.
A client of mine discussed some familiar signs of what can happen when leaders execute without building alignment around their vision: The direction of the program changes, tasks are delayed, teams may form factions and have side chats, or tension and frustration arise. They summed it up as the feeling of “herding cats” when trying to bring everyone back into alignment.
Turning your vision into a reality requires taking the time to get others’ perspectives and generating excitement. Without it, your plan may lack the clarity and the engagement you need to execute it successfully.
Based on my own experiences, including reading the book Work of Leaders, I know building alignment is rooted in how we communicate with others and inspire them about our vision. Here are six best practices I’ve put into place for building alignment and getting buy-in.
1. Explain your rationale.
Clearly communicate the reasons behind your ideas and decisions. Provide facts. Instead of focusing on what you can and can’t say, share what’s certain at this time and let your team know when you may be able to share more details.
One vision I had to get alignment on was redesigning a partnership with another organization where we jointly convened multiple high-visibility events. Because the relationship was revered by several prominent leaders in our community, we knew getting early buy-in for our decision required explaining the facts. Over the years, the elements that supported the collaboration had changed significantly. We’d increased our resources, expertise and focus on this business line, which lead to the partnership’s operation becoming inefficient. This prompted internal recommendations to end the relationship, revise some events and cancel others with less impact and value to the community.
2. Provide structured messaging.
Take the time to plan out how to explain your ideas so it’s easier for others to understand what you’re communicating. This can help avoid the spread of misinterpreted or false information.
As part of our recommendation, we cautioned leaders about impromptu conversations, especially those where someone potentially provides so many details that they drown out the important points we wanted to convey. We developed succinct talking points to convey to key opinion leaders in both organizations, asking ourselves in the process, “How do we make sure the one thing they need to take away from this conversation is conveyed?”
3. Exchange perspectives.
Don’t think that you have all the answers. Give others a chance to share their opinions about new ideas and information, and actively listen to what they have to say.
Before finalizing the decision to end the partnership, the team of leaders I worked with discussed it with key stakeholders in both organizations. We also reached out to organizations that had shown interest in this program area and our events but had little to no opportunity to participate under the existing partnership. Our leaders committed to facilitating an exchange of ideas to get buy-in for our vision. As a result, we discovered ways to move forward with this organization less formally, as well as collaborated with additional organizations in the planning of events and programs we had proposed to lead.
4. Be receptive.
Remain open to other ideas, even when you have strong opinions. Invite different points of view with conversation starters you can use when everyone is silent. Here are some of my favorites:
• Who hasn’t had a chance to speak?
• What does the silence mean? You agree?
• What questions do you have?
During the partnership redesign, leaders stressed the importance of tapping into existing relationships to help with the dialogue. They actively sought out the potentially strongest opponents, and we prepped the team to go beyond what they heard and focus on what was important to the opposing party. The dialogue was kept positive with language like “I like your idea. This would be even better if …”
5. Be expressive.
Let others see your excitement and passion. Communicate in an open and upbeat manner. Once the recommendation was approved, we built a communications plan to build energy and excitement around our vision for this new program and events. Personalized letters from our president were sent out, using communication starters like “We are excited to share …” and “This is an opportunity to …”
6. Be encouraging.
Display optimism and inspire others to believe in the importance of the work they’re doing by recognizing colleagues’ success. Cheer and celebrate milestones, progress and lessons learned from failure. Our communications plan acknowledged the long history of our partnership with the other organization and our commitment to collaborating in a different way, and we championed the inclusion of more members of our community in our programs.
Using these six best practices will help you get thoughtful perspectives from other stakeholders on your plan. When you provide clarity and foster excitement, you’ll have the buy-in needed to ensure your vision succeeds.
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