Belief over Buy-IN “Belief does not require proof”

by Nathan Jamail

In business today organizations and leaders are always looking to get their employee’s “buy-in”. It’s been said thousands of times that leaders need their employees “buy-in” to an idea or strategy in order for it to be successful. The problem with “buy-in” is that it is time consuming and typically requires proof to show the idea is a good one. The goal of a leader should be to have team members with belief and conviction over buy-in. What’s the difference?

Buy-in: Buy-in is getting others to agree with an idea or concept, so they will support the idea and implement the necessary goals and actions.
When a person is trying to buy-in to something new, they may say, “I would buy-in to the idea if I knew for sure it would …..”

Belief: Does not require proof. A person can choose to believe in an idea or principle without proof or- even despite proof that proves their belief could be wrong.

When a person believes in their leader or the organization and they learn of a new idea or concept, they may say, “I don’t see it yet, but I believe in my leader and the organization I work for, so they must know something I don’t know and I am ready to take action regardless”.

How to get others to believe:
First: Belief needs to be nurtured before it is ever needed. A leader needs to have team members that believe in them and the organization. A leader must be willing to share this principle in the beginning of all relationships; interviewing new employees, meeting new teams, starting a new project. The need for belief always comes before discipline and actions and most definitely success.

Next: Recognize that “belief” does not remove obstacles and problems. In fact the more an organization believes in themselves or their mission the more obstacles and problems that could arise. The key is having a belief so strong, as a team, that the belief is victorious over the obstacles. Lastly a leader must be genuine and authentic. A belief in leaders and organizations requires alignment of people and principles. Believers don’t work for a paycheck or feel, “it’s just a job”, believers feel there is a purpose and they are a part of that purpose. The key is stop trying to convince non believers and find more believers.

What to do with non-believers:
Everybody believes in something, just not everybody believes in everything. The key alignment and not settling. Most organizations fail in belief and buy-in not because of bad people or bad organizations, rather bad fits. People stay at a job because they think they need it and leaders keep non-believing employees because they feel good people are hard to find; both are settling versus aligning. When done right it looks like: aligning the right people with the right belief with the right organization. Believe in doing the right thing and not the easy thing. A leader much show the imperative need for belief and encourage those non-believers to go join an organization they can believe in and do a job that is aligned with their beliefs.

When a leader has believers they never need “buy-in”.

The result:
When a team only has believers they win in every aspect of their business. The can adapt to change faster and better. Why? Because they don’t have to spend weeks, months and sometimes years convincing the team the upcoming change is the right thing to do. A team of believers has conviction for their job and their work. A team of believers will serve bosses, peers and customers because they believe- not because they have to.

Lastly a team of believers always wins, because they don’t know they were not suppose to- because they never stop believing.

Sound too good to be true? Maybe. It depends on what you believe.