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Make Your Ideas Count

Many of my executive coaching clients have current work responsibilities and duties that demand a lot of their time. One important area that becomes neglected is getting others to take an interest in your new ideas or initiatives. It's important to gain buy-in from others on why your idea or project needs to be embraced.

Why are new ideas or initiatives an important area to focus on in your work? They are important because you can gain increased visibility and recognition when the idea (which you are in charge of) is chosen as the new project for your team. The key benefit of bringing new ideas into a company is that your visibility can be tied to the project, increasing your exposure and thus your advancement up the corporate ladder. All of this directly affects your career and the overall productivity and efficiency of the company.

Whatever project, idea, or initiative you want created needs to be promoted in the correct way. The first step in gaining visibility for your idea is to build a solid case that clearly shows why it is beneficial. You'll want to come up with simple, direct, to-the-point messages that give the precise reason, benefit, and advantage for others to accept this new project or idea.

What is most important in getting others to embrace the new idea or project is to make sure you clearly explain who it's for and how it directly benefits them. When discussing the benefits, explain the results and show how it actually works. If you have any success stories that directly relate to the new project or idea that you want others to accept, include the stories with the reason why it's beneficial. This will greatly enhance your chance for buy-in.

It's also important to come up with every single objection or rebuttal that others inside your company might come up with. For each objection, have a reason why your idea/project should be used and why it is valuable. Actually, you'll want to have one more reason than the number of objections. For example, they could have 5 objections, but you have 6 reasons why the project or idea is valuable and necessary, and it's the 6th reason (the one extra) that gets them to say yes to your idea.

The best way to gather support for your idea is to think about the following questions:

1. What is the benefit to the company? Make sure to include the bottom-line financial benefits.
2. Who can you turn into advocates who would openly support and endorse your idea?
3. Who might derail or stop your idea or project? What can you do to turn them into supporters?
4. Create a list of every single objection or rebuttal that others inside your company might come up with.
5. Whom could you brainstorm this idea or project with so they will help you see it from all angles, including all of the pros and cons?
6. Who believes in you? Ask them to support and help implement your idea.

Generating positive interest, buy-in, and implementation of your new ideas or initiatives can increase your exposure and visibility inside your company. Thus, you can directly impact your ability to gain a promotion and to advance up the corporate ladder quickly and ffectively. The end result is an extraordinary career in which you fully realize your professional, personal, and financial goals.

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