Get the Boss to Buy In

For organizations to prosper, managers in the middle ranks must feel empowered to identify and promote the need for change. People at this level gather valuable intelligence from direct contact with customers, suppliers, and colleagues; they can often see when the market is ripe for a certain offering, for instance, or spot signs that a partnership won't work. But for many reasons, ranging from a fear of negative consequences to compliance with a top-down culture, they may not voice their ideas and concerns - and even when they do, they often struggle to persuade the people at the top. The authors studied "issue selling" in a range of organizations, roles, and industries, identifying seven tactics associated with success. Managers should tailor their pitch to the goals, values, and knowledge of decision makers; frame the issue to show how it supports a strategic goal; manage emotions (their own and their audience's); get the timing right by, say, attending to a boss's preoccupations or watching larger trends; involve others, both in and out of their networks; adhere to organizational norms, such as how leaders prefer to receive information; and suggest solutions,or at least propose ways to find one. Issue selling is an ongoing process that requires groundwork and patient. Midlevel managers who did it effectively get decision makers' attention and make a real difference in their organizations.