The Trick to Get Your People Bought-In
I mean it should be simple, right? I’m the leader. I set the direction for the team. It’d be reasonable to think you’d... you know... do what I asked. Or a close approximation. Or at least pretend to do what I asked!
But no.
More often than not, you simply go off on a tangent or just don’t move at all... so I’m left scratching my head. Was I not clear enough? Did you misunderstand me? Have I not motivated you well enough?
If you’re a leader, I’m sure you’ve had thoughts like this running through your mind at least a few times.
Truth is, getting people bought-in and working like a well-oiled machine can be pretty exhausting and time-consuming. It usually involves a lot of guesswork. Most leaders think figuring this stuff should just come naturally. The truth is, it doesn’t.
That’s why I’m writing this series of blog posts – so you can read them secretly over the coming weeks to get the answers you need, while making it look like you worked it all out by yourself.
OK, so let’s take a look at what’s really going on. What causes the gridlock? Why do teams often not do what they’re being asked?
One big reason is your language, and how you use it.
After years of observing patterns in the dynamic between leaders and followers, I’ve come to realize that language matters. A lot.
Here’s a fairly short explanation of what I mean. Let’s start with the blindingly obvious, and work our way up to the should be obvious but actually isn’t, or I wouldn’t need to write blog posts about it kind of stuff.
People are different. (Yup, painfully obvious.)
Some people are happy being left alone to get on with their work, but now and then they want to feel recognized and appreciated for what they do.
Others don’t care about being praised and all those nice things. What really matters to them is they feel a personal bond... a connection... with the leader. Or maybe they want their leader to share lessons learned and help them avoid mistakes.
OK, we’ve established that people are inspired and motivated by different things. So far, so duh.
But now, this is where it gets less obvious.
Most leaders only speak to their team in one particular style. Or two at a stretch. Usually it’s in the same style they themselves like to be led. They have only one or two “Leadership Languages” they know how to speak.
In other words, you might be Santa Claus when it comes to giving out praise. Great. But if you’re dealing with people who don’t care much about praise but really crave, say, connection… well, you won’t get much bang for your buck.
What am I getting at here? After spending way too many years developing these ideas than is probably healthy, I’ve come to discover there are actually 5 “Leadership Languages.”
Each one is different. Different enough that if your team members prefer one and you’re using another, you might as well be speaking to them in another language.
In fact, you’re probably doing this right now, and you don’t even realize it. It’s a big reason why people may not be following your direction.
On the other hand, when you speak the Leadership Language that matters most to others, they’ll resonate with it and respond to it.
Bottom line here is, the Leadership Language you use will often mean the difference between having a team firing on all cylinders, or a team that tends to grind to a halt or go in a different direction.
I recommend you take this quiz, and then I’ll explore what this “Leadership Language” thing all means in future posts.
