The Change Dude’s Blog

Buy-In versus Commitment

Watching the BCS National Championship game last night and hearing Alabama coach Nick Saban repeatedly refer to how his team “bought-in” to the process when he really meant to say that his players “committed” themselves to the vision, goals and activities required to achieve Championship status gave me pause.  Leaders of many organizations make this vital mistake. 

Building commitment is far different than obtaining buy-in, or what I believe is consensus.  Gamblers buy-in to poker games, investors buy-in to start-up companies. The concept of buying-in implies that an individual is interested enough in an idea or a concept to accept the overriding premise and consent to taking part in the actions around that concept.  Coach Saban’s players did far more than consent to being coached which is what buying in implies.  As in many organizations that embark on strategic change getting executives and employees to buy in is incredibly easy.  How can anyone argue that if a business reduces costs by 30% the bottom line will see marked improvement?  It’s a fact and easy to gain consensus that a 30% cost reduction should be a goal we all strive for.

The real challenge for leaders is to build commitment for achieving that goal.  Commitment that each person will go above and beyond to find ways and means to achieve the stated goal and reinforce that commitment in one another.  The University of Alabama football team was committed to their goal.  All the players, staff and fans went well above and beyond to attain the goal.  I assure you that if the team merely “bought-in” to the goal of being National Champions that they may never have made it to Pasadena.

Change the language of leadership, remove the term buy-in from the lexicon and replace it with commitment.

January 8, 2010 - Posted by thechangedude | Thinking About Change