Getting to Yes Before You Pitch the Idea

You can have the best idea in the world—and the ability to execute it flawlessly—but if you don’t have the support of the people around you, it doesn’t matter.

Securing strategic buy-in is what makes the work possible. One of the first times I saw this really formalized was at a company where we had to “socialize the plan.” That meant going stakeholder by stakeholder, holding the meetings before the meeting. Making sure people understood what we were trying to do, had a chance to weigh in, and—ideally—became advocates by the time we got to the actual pitch.

It took time. A lot of it. But in that environment, it worked.

Part of being an effective communicator is knowing who needs to be on board, and how to get them there. That kind of judgment isn’t always obvious from the outside—but it’s what sets strong communicators apart.When have you seen buy-in make or break a great idea?