Gain Buy-In with Unexpected Allies

The best way to gain buy-in in my belief is to pick the unexpected ally who’s so different than you. For example when I joined the Wall Street Journal, I reached out to the CFO. I said we’re quite different but I don’t understand your world very well and you may need messaging as you’re going to your peers on the C-Suite. So I said on occasion let’s talk briefly and he was disgusted with the idea. So I was persistent and when we did actually meet I said give me 10 minutes.

We found our ways where we could help each other, and so I turned to him and said, I think there should be a new mix of news when we go digital. He would listen to me and he would say who would back it and who might not and then became an ally. Find the unexpected ally.

Find the right team and say, if you’re great at this, these are the people inside and outside the organization that are the best shot at succeeding, and here’s why it helps you. And better yet, reverse what I just said and say, ‘I think you might want this because, let me tell you more about it’. Do a you be us, might interest you, might interest me, why it’s good for us.