For decades in business, we have been talking about how important it is to gain executive and management buy-in before you can successfully launch an initiative. Ask almost any human resources professional, continuous improvement specialist, learning and development professional or project manager and they will all tell you obtaining buy-in is the hallmark first step in every change management strategy, system implementation, culture change and engagement effort. I’ve used the term myself before countless times with both peers and leaders, touting the importance of it and strategizing how to achieve it. But it wasn’t until recently while listening to a presenter facilitate on the topic of culture change, did I come to the realization that this overused, decidedly antiquated buzzword is a bunch of BS!
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Penny Horton | May 25, 2018
While I’m not alone in my thinking that it is an overused buzzword (back in 2012 the term buy-in made Forbes’ list of The Most Annoying, Pretentious and Useless Business Jargon), it really hasn’t seemed to lose any popularity. I mean, I mentioned earlier that I just heard a facilitator reference it as the recommended first step to a culture change initiative. If you do an internet search on the term “executive buy-in” you get back 678,000,000 results. It seems everyone has an opinion on how to get buy-in, why buy-in is important and how buy-in will make your initiative successful.
What about executive “commitment”, instead of “buy-in”? To me, I think that differentiation is really just a matter of semantics and when it comes down to brass tacks, I think both are BS!
Let’s start first by exploring the dictionary definitions of each to gain some understanding.
“Buy-in” according to the Free Dictionary is to agree with or support an idea and accept it as worthwhile.
“Commitment” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary is to pledge to do something in the future.
And while I 100% agree that in order for organizational initiatives to have any chance of being successful, both buy-in and commitment from the leadership team are necessary, I don’t think that simply having leadership’s agreement with an idea or their pledge to do something in the future is enough! And it definitely isn’t what ends up making an initiative successful. I’m calling BS (which is foolish, deceitful and boastful language according to the Free Dictionary’s definition)!
Think about it with me for just a minute. Let’s use an example we can all relate to for illustrative purposes. Marriage. In the U.S. marriage is seen as a commitment between two people. Using the definition I used before for commitment, married individuals exchange vows with each other that spell out what they pledge to do in future, which for simplicity sake, we will say is being faithful to one another. According to the CDC, in 2014 there were 2,140,272 marriages and with an average divorce rate of 3.2 divorces per 1,000 population, that means about 46% of those commitments will fail. Regardless of the circumstances or reasons, its fair to say that simply stating your commitment or making a pledge doesn’t guarantee success! And yes, while I realize this illustration is a dramatic oversimplification of circumstances and that I may essentially be comparing apples to oranges, I think the example is still a fair illustration of my point.
What is my point?
My point is that simply giving your buy-in or making a commitment to support an initiative isn’t enough. Even if that buy-in or commitment manifests itself in the form of support for resources, budgetary approvals or making key business decisions. Again, money, approval, and resources are all very necessary things, but they aren’t the only things needed. I think we need to make a paradigm shift in both our thinking and our behaviors when we launch initiatives in our organizations.
What do we need?
We need “executive action“! We need executives (and all leaders) putting their money where their mouth is, walking the talk and being fully engaged in the process of making sure initiatives are successful.
What does Executive Action look like?
Executive action comes in the form of a leader being the first to sit through and actively participate in a leadership development opportunity with the other leaders in the organization and it means not allowing an executive to bow out of taking the class because he or she is “too busy”.
Executive action comes in the form of being the first leader in the organization to complete the performance review process on time with each of his or her direct reports, including both the written portion of the review as well as having a meaningful feedback session with each person.
Executive action comes in the form of sitting down with the compensation department to review, analyze, and discuss the company’s salary data and giving immediate approval for necessary pay adjustments to individuals.
Executive action comes in the form of holding all employees and leaders accountable to the same standards and taking consistent actions when those standards aren’t upheld, regardless of the personal relationship or level of the individual.
Executive action comes in the form of being the first person in the organization to sign up to volunteer his or her time to support a local charity event (not just signing the company check).
I could go on and on with examples but I think (or at least hope) you get the idea. Saying we support something is vastly different than actually doing something to support it. I can’t help but think of a story that a leader shared with me one time about how he rolled up his sleeves and pitched in to help sweep out their plant after flood damage. Years later he is still recognized as one of the few leaders in the organization that actually showed he cared through action. And I can attest to the level of trust and respect he has earned in that organization.
It’s interesting that almost everyone is familiar with the phrase “action speaks louder than words” but so many of us don’t actually employ the concept. So, I implore you, the next time you are looking to launch a successful initiative ask for executive action, not executive buy-in. Or, the next time you are asked to give your executive buy-in, show your executive action instead!
Reality Check
- Do you or your organization need help to identify opportunities to engage in executive action?
- Have you gotten executive buy-in but aren’t getting executive action?
- Do you need assistance in launching a successful human capital strategy?
If you answered yes to any of these questions or want to discuss this topic further, please let me know.
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