They buy in to you before they buy in to your vision

You finally got responsibility for the team you need to make a difference.

You have a vision for a much better future, and now you need your new team to buy in.

But they probably won’t. At least not yet. Unless you’ve been around a while and already built relationships with them.

John Maxwell explains it this way: “The leader finds the dream and then the people. The people find the leader, and then the dream.”

Before your new team will buy in to your vision, they first need to buy in to you.

They need to know that you are a competent leader, with good character, and committed to your vision.

And to know that, they need to know that you buy in to them.

As I look back on my visions that didn’t materialize, I recall team members who weren’t bought in. And in every case, they were people I had already concluded were going to be challenging team members.

I hadn’t bought in to them. And they didn’t buy in to me. And they didn’t buy in to my vision.

But when you can choose to see the potential in the people on your team, you help them see the potential in you as a leader.

Then they can see your vision, make it theirs, and help you make a difference.