No Input=No Buy-In=No Success

This blog is the sixth in the series, My Top 10 Blunders and How You Can Avoid Them.

When I received one of my first big firmwide promotions as director of physician services, I also made one of my biggest blunders.

Our firm was already serving lots of hospital clients and providing a comprehensive list of services. As a result of that work, we were well known in hospital circles and had obtained a long list of physician and medical clinic clients. But in my new role, I knew we needed to be more strategic in what services our firm was providing to these physician and medical clinic clients. So, as any visionary leader might do, I huddled up with myself and wrote a brilliant strategic plan for our team. And it failed miserably. Why? Because it was Joey’s plan, not our team’s plan. I had no buy-in, nor did I have the best strategy and action plan because there was knowledge and wisdom on our team that I had ignored. The exclusion of my fellow team members who were serving many of these clients led to hesitancy on their part to introduce me or new services to their existing relationships. 

My advice: Always include your team in developing strategy. Soliciting diverse perspectives can protect you from “one-way” thinking. Providing a collaborative atmosphere for input and pushback will help you get a better plan plus a lot of team buy-in, and ultimately, a better success rate.