Winning hearts and minds: How to get buy-in for your great ideas
We were working with an HR executive who was frustrated. She had an initiative she knew would benefit employees, but no matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t get buy-in from the rest of the C-suite. Why can’t they see this is the right thing to do? She was advocating for employees, and making a strong case for why the leadership team should care.
We asked her: What if you made them your customer? Instead of focusing on why it was the right thing for employees, what if you addressed how your idea solved your senior leaders’ challenges? How did this initiative align with their strategy, help their priorities, or relieve the pressures keeping them up at night?
She paused. I’m not sure what’s most important to them.
And there it was—the missing piece. Before she could influence them, she needed to understand them. If you’re a leader, you’re in customer service. Because getting buy-in from your stakeholders is about selling an idea in a way that speaks to the person making the decision.
If you want to gain support for your ideas or strategic initiatives, ask yourself: Are you treating the person in front of you like a customer? Are you advocating for what you see as important, or are you speaking directly to what matters most to them, and guiding them to see the value in something that goes beyond what they think they want?
3 essential parts of getting buy-in
Getting buy-in isn’t just about having a great idea. It’s about how you position it, who you’re speaking to, and the trust you’ve built along the way.
Building a relationship foundation: People are far more likely to buy in when they trust you. If you jump straight into pitching an idea without first building a relationship and rapport, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Build credibility and connection and your audience will be more open to listening and engaging.
Using language that resonates: Your idea may be clear to you, but how well are you communicating it to others? Translating your idea is about helping them see what you can see, and framing it in a way that resonates with your audience. Use language your audience knows.
Understanding their context: You need to understand what matters to your audience and connect it to your idea. What’s important to them? What challenges are they facing? What are their fears? What goals are they working toward?
Approaches to getting buy-in
Here are some helpful approaches and steps to consider as you work through the three essential parts:
The tipping point: The tipping point is the moment when a small change can trigger a system to achieve irreversible, dramatic change and acceptance. We’ve seen this approach work on social media, where influencers attract enough of the right audience to inspire a new direction.
Let’s say you’re trying to introduce a new process. At first, people might be skeptical. You talk about it a few times, but not much changes.
Then, you get two influential team members to try it with their own teams. They like it, it works well, and they start sharing how much more productive their teams feel.
That’s when others start paying attention. More people try it, word spreads, and suddenly—everyone’s doing it! You’ve hit the tipping point.
Find the internal "influencers" in your organization. Those who are highly-connected, enthusiastic, and able to endorse or advocate for your idea. You also need a consistent drip of information that makes your idea memorable (such as symbols, taglines, or names) while clearly highlighting differences from the status quo that are attractive, interesting, and worthwhile to your audience.
Timing is everything: People often need time to process new ideas and may need multiple exposures to fully understand and buy in. Shawn learned this firsthand while working with a team in France. He had what he thought was a brilliant idea, and pitched it enthusiastically, convinced it was the right direction. Their response? “No. This isn’t it. We don’t want to go that way.” Two weeks later, they came back with a proposal that closely resembled his original idea. The difference? They had time to sit with it, process it, and make it their own.
This happens often, especially with complex decisions. People don’t always buy in immediately—not because the idea isn’t good, but because they need time to connect the dots. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is introduce an idea and give it space to grow.
Beware of the "ugly baby" mindset: It’s easy to be protective of an idea you’re deeply attached to, and you may have difficulty seeing its potential weaknesses. Your “baby” might not be as perfect as you think—be willing to see that. Actively listen to different perspectives without getting defensive. View it as an opportunity to make your idea stronger by including other people’s contributions.
Go beyond yes or no: Complex ideas rarely get a yes or no buy-in. You can ask stakeholders to rate their buy-in on a scale of 1-10 This gives us a way to discuss the gap in buy-in, surface concerns and identify what's preventing full commitment. If someone rates their buy-in a 7 out of 10, ask, “What would move this from a 7 to a 10?” This person might share specific concerns like the need for more clarity, resource limitations, or uncertainty about implementation.
Remember: you want genuine commitment, not just people saying "yes" but not actually supporting the initiative. The benefits of this approach is that it goes beyond a simple yes/no response and reveals multi-layered perspectives. It allows for a deeper, more nuanced understanding of what’s truly holding people back. It also gives you the chance to address specific reservations.
Build a compelling story: Use the 6 steps to build a strategic narrative in a compelling story—we've outlined them in this article. The key is transforming an idea from a concept into a journey people want to join.
Moving forward with clarity
Like the HR executive we worked with, it’s easy to focus on advocating for what you believe is right. But genuine buy-in comes from understanding your audience’s challenges, priorities, and motivations. The more you align your message with what truly matters to your audience, the more likely you are to turn a no into a yes.
Being able to effectively get buy-in can accelerate progress, reduce friction, increase excitement, and unify teams. If you need a partner to help you shift your perspective, and create a bridge between your stakeholders’ priorities and your vision, let's talk!