#340: Jump on the bandwagon
Why those on the wagon should welcome the newcomers! Come on in; the water is warm.
I loved the Lions before it was cool.
As a leader, you can learn a lot through sports. Here is yet another Detroit Lions leadership lesson. As a leader, it’s not your responsibility to win over everyone at once. They will come if you have a clear vision and live the values you espouse every day. As I have written, Dan Campbell set a vision and won over his team and the entire city in the last three years.
The Lions knew this would take time. They believed that they were going in the right direction. They didn’t demand respect or loyalty. They had some loyal fans, and would have to earn the rest. The Lions couldn’t mandate compliance or acceptance with their new culture.
Keep this in mind as you roll out your new culture. Your team must buy into it. Mandating behavior is not the answer as you develop your culture or go through massive changes. You will have early adopters, and if your vision begins to take shape, they will be the ones that pull the stragglers along in the end.
The graph below shows how this works as a percentage of your team adopting the new culture. I don’t care what you are selling; it takes time for everyone to adopt.
Too often, leaders try to sell their ideas to the mass market. They target the middle of the curve and try to grab both early and late majorities. We know there will always be skeptics, so any efforts to convince the laggards will be ineffective.
As leaders, find the Innovators and Early Adopters in your organization. Sell your ideas to them, and have them become the evangelists in the organization. Those early groups become your best internal salespeople if you say what you’ll do and do what you say.
Too often, we try to massage our message to gain a consensus. And what that does is water it down. It gives a little something to everyone instead of making the most significant impact you can. Focus on the tail to the left, and if your vision, mission, and values are needed, then the rest will come along for the ride.
Who cares if those late adopters, like these new Lions fans, are jumping on the bandwagon now? As long as they are all coming along for the ride, you have done your job in the end.
There will be setbacks
Just as the Lions showed us on Sunday, losing in dramatic fashion to the Baltimore Ravens, there will be setbacks along the way. It’s not how far you are set back, it’s how you respond. You will lose some of the new fans, but consistency and commitment will bring them back.
The road to success is filled with potholes and construction cones. It won’t be smooth sailing. As long as you stay on that road, you’ll win over the rest of the stragglers. And you will have them jump on the bandwagon and say they never lost faith. When you hear that, just smile and say welcome aboard.