You Can't Inspire Enthusiasm

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Here’s my hot take: You can't inspire enthusiasm. You can only create ownership.

So many experts and leaders get this wrong.

They try to create excitement by making their vision or idea more compelling; better presentations, clearer benefits, and more passionate speeches.

This almost never works.

I saw this play out with two department heads trying to rally folks around new initiatives.

The first called a meeting and delivered a polished presentation about his bold new direction. Passionate speech, solid data, clear timeline.

His team listened politely, then went back to working exactly as before.

Sarah tried something different.

She said, “Our current approach isn't working. I have some ideas, but first I want to understand what problems you're seeing.”

Three weeks later, the first leader was frustrated his team seemed disengaged.

Sarah's team was working overtime. Not because she asked them to, but because they were excited about ideas they'd helped develop.

Of course, there is more nuance, but at the end of the day, people don't get excited about following your vision.

They get excited about pursuing a vision they helped shape.

• They understand problems when they help find them

• Solutions feel possible when they help build them

• Change feels less scary when they help design it

• Success feels better when they help create the path

So what did Sarah do differently?

I looked at her approach and similar ones, and noticed they followed five steps that most skip.

Creating Enthusiasm Through Involvement

Sarah was BUILDing:

B - Begin with Problems, Not Solutions
U - Uncover Team Views First
I - Involve Them in Building Solutions
L - Let Them Shape How It Happens
D - Delegate Ownership of Results

Let’s get it…

B - Begin with Problems, Not Solutions

• Instead of: "We're implementing agile to improve our process." 

• Try: "Our development cycle is creating bottlenecks that hurt quality and frustrate everyone. We need to fix this. What are you seeing?"

When people feel the problem personally, they want to solve it.

U - Uncover Team Views First

Ask before telling:

• "What's working well that we should keep?"

• "What's frustrating about how we handle this now?"

• "What would need to change for this to work better?"

• "What barriers do you see that I might not?"

People feel heard, and you get insights that make your solution better.

I - Involve Them in Building Solutions

How to do it:

• Present the problem and constraints, not the answer

• Ask for their ideas before sharing yours

• Build on their suggestions

• Let them see their ideas in the final plan

When people help create the solution, they own its success.

L - Let Them Shape How It Happens

Examples:

• "We've agreed on the goal. How should we roll this out?"

• "What would make this transition easier for you?"

• "What support do you need to make this work?"

• "How should we measure success?"

People commit more to plans they help create than plans they're told to follow.

D - Delegate Ownership of Results

• Instead of: "Please implement the new reporting process." 

• Try: "You own improving our reporting speed and accuracy. Here are the targets. How do you want to approach this?"

Owning outcomes creates motivation that completing tasks never can.

POLL

The Bottom Line

The most excited teams aren't following the most inspiring visions.

They're pursuing visions they helped create.

People don't resist change - they resist being changed. When you involve them in shaping change, resistance becomes collaboration.

Thanks for reading. Be easy!
Girvin

P.S. What's one initiative where your team showed polite compliance instead of real excitement? Hit reply and let me know.