You're "In Charge", Now What?
This is the single best time to create buy-in, on Day 1. It’s where we create a group mindset shift of guiding the team away from working for you to working with you. These are the day 1 steps to create buy-in.
I want you to visualize something: Think back to the time you first met someone you recently wanted to impress. Maybe a first date? Maybe a job interview? A girlfriend or boyfriend’s parents, whatever. Someone who, after speaking with them, you wanted them to leave your conversation saying, “wow”. A scenario where you have one shot. You probably pulled out all the stops, right? On a first date, maybe you went to the florist? Before meeting his or her parents maybe you cooked an amazing meal? For a job interview, maybe a couple days before you put off doing something fun with a friend JUST so you could get your suit to the dry cleaner to look spiffy for your job interview.
We’ve all done this at one time in our life so this visualization makes you think about all those steps you may, or may not, have taken to pull off impressing this person.
Why is this so important?
The reason I bring this up is because you’re “in charge” now. This may be a new thing for you. Even if being “in charge” isn’t a new thing for you, this may be a new group of people. It doesn’t matter, and neither does the thought that you’re “in charge”, because, guess what? You’re not. You’re not anything unless you have buy-in.
Put yourself in the shoes of one of the people you’re “in charge” of. They don’t know you and it is a human being’s first reaction to feel threatened by what it doesn’t know. Animal Instincts 101. Your first step is to get out in front of that IMMEDIATELY and this applies not only in the business world but the sports world as well. Any environment where people depend on you. How do we do this?
IF YOU'RE NOT READING, YOU'RE BEHIND
Step 1: Meet EVERYONE
My first day “in charge” of a new department I made sure I at least shook everyone’s hand individually and I called an impromptu staff meeting of everyone in the department. The first thing we did was play a game to soften up the mood to destroy that “threatened” feeling. Then I introduced myself by mentioning who I was and what the plans were. At no point did it ever get too serious. We kept it short enough not to interfere with anyone’s schedules, but prepared and powerful enough to get people’s attention.
Just like what you did when you found out what your date’s favorite flowers were and you bought them before dinner. You see, I never felt comfortable telling someone else what to do, without first introducing myself or at least meet each person. You should also employ this tactic:
Transferred?
Being moved to a new department is like starting all over again. So be sure to memorize each and every staff member’s face and name in the system before going into the first day of work. This way when you see anyone on staff you can immediately use their name and greet them. This immediately tears down the threat of a new person “in charge” and makes the person feel special. In “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie he describes the importance of making people feel special. If they’re happy and feel fulfilled, they’ll work that way.
Step 2: Now REALLY Meet Everyone
If you’ve memorized EVERYONE’S names and you had a fun informal, but informative, staff meeting, you’re off to the right start. The problem is you’re still the new guy or girl. Therefore, people don’t REALLY know you and you don’t REALLY know them. So what we do now is set up a meeting with each individual person (this may be VERY difficult in some places because of staff size but it is worth it if you can make it happen).
This meeting is designed to tear down the walls. What we want to do here is ensure this other person that we are human as well. That we may have common interests and hobbies. That we’re here for them to be the best they can be. Above all, this meeting should consist mainly of rapport building with honest and open communication. Possibly even asking silly questions to break the ice. After that, and this is the important part, share your answers. Below is an example of what we mean. The first section should take up most of the time. Feel free to add other things and don’t be afraid to go off on tangents as you go as well. The more the better
Why Does This Work?
Simple. You made everyone feel important. You gave them their time and made them feel special. Has any manager or coach done that for you? If so, you’re lucky because its rare. Think about how that would have made you feel had they done that. You would have felt on the same level as them. Like they’re in the trenches WITH you, not ABOVE you.
What this does for our buy-in is immense. At one point you walked in and people felt threatened even if you’re the nicest person on the planet. Now, even just after maybe two of the many meetings you’ve done, people are talking. The word is getting out that you’re not so bad after all. In short, what we’ve done here is created a shift. A shift from the group working for you to working with you. There’s a big difference.
