Recruiting Others to a Shared Vision

You likely already have the skill -- and have practiced it quite often -- of recruiting others to a shared vision. If you have been married a couple of years or more you are experienced. Just use that approach with others.

Recruiting others to a shared vision is the same process you use to convince your spouse that you need, really, really need a your own space or the latest “all my friends have one” purchase. By dissecting the approach you take with your spouse, you can use the same method (minus the romance) with others you want to join with you in a shared vision.

Before we approach our spouse with our thinking, we make sure we actually do some thinking. We prepare for the obvious questions:

Why do you want to do this?
What will it accomplish?
Why is it important to you?
What will it cost?
What are other alternatives?
Why do you need to pursue it now?
What is the benefit to you and me?

Once you have thought through your possible questions and have inspiring responses in mind, you now pick the right time to approach the subject. Timing and environment are very important. You make sure that you will be uninterrupted so they have time to ask their questions and discuss at length.

After introducing the new idea, you give them time to think about it, remind them why it is important to you and convey appreciation for their consideration. (Not your style -- try it. It works.)

If you don’t hear back from them in a reasonable amount of time, you follow up to see if they have additional questions and to gauge their acceptance. When an agreement is made, you routinely keep them posted as to progress to reinforce the wisdom of their decision and a reminder of their commitment to the cause.

This process of engaging others builds trust and experience for future partnership building. As the relationship deepens in trust (just like your marriage) you will grow more comfortable in applying the same loving approach with others on your team. Give it a try!