The Law of Buy-In states that a leader will find a dream and then the people. Followers will find a leader and then the dream.
My father was a stock broker for a short time early in his professional career and I remember some time around my senior year in High School I asked him to explain to me how the stock market works. I believe that he explained it well and I followed quite intensely for a while until I realized that continuing to do so would probably make me crazy.
There is one thing that he taught me that has stuck in my mind since the day he explained it. “Barry” he said, “don’t ever buy into the company if you don’t buy into the person that is leading them.” It was years later when I finally fully understood the lesson.
I don’t spend a lot of time following the stock market, but I do spend a lot of time following the business leaders, whose leadership plays a major role in how their respective companies perform. A companies biggest asset and biggest liability, in my opinion, are one in the same – their people. John Maxwell in his The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership describes the relationship between a leader, their vision and their followers:
When Followers Don’t Like The Leader But They Do Like The Vision … They Look For Another Leader
- A leader may have a great vision that many buy into. If the leader is not allowing his followers to be part of that vision, the followers will find someone to lead them. Vision is great, but without others engaged in that fulfilling that vision, it will never be achieved.
When Followers Like The Leader But Not The Vision … They Change The Vision
- If you like your leader but don’t necessarily share their vision, you will have a difficult time being satisfied with the direction you are headed. As a leader, we need to recognize that if we do not provide a vision that out faithful followers can believe in, they will soon find someone else to follow.
When Followers Like The Leader And The Vision … They Get Behind Both
- Success! A leader has a vision that others buy into. He leads in a way that allows everyone to be part of fulfilling that vision. And most importantly, he creates a culture that will not only carry that vision forward but will broaden the scope of that vision into the future.
If you are a leader, first make sure your vision is consistent with the core values and objectives of your business. Second, make sure that your entire team is part of seeing that vision become reality.
“ALL OF US IS BETTER THAN ONE OF US” – Share your vision and lead your team to success!
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Next Up: Law # 15 – The Law of Victory
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Barry Smith www.buildingwhatmatters.com 8/15/12 photo by author
