Do you have the buy-in….

Judges 15:11-12 - Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?”  He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.” They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.” (NIV)

Do you have the buy-in?  For anyone leading others, this is important. In the verses above, Samson did what he thought was right, and his people did not buyinto what he did. Maybe he did not tell them because he felt that he did not need to do so, or he knew the people would not go for it. As a result the people decided to hand him over to the Philistines; he did not have the buy from the people but they would not kill him because they still have love for him. How many leaders move forward without the buy-in from the people they lead, and then get upset because the people do not support what they have done? Yes, you might say, but they agreed to be on the team, and I am the leader, thus follow me ,or why did they speak up?. We humans are curious bunch, and we might give a glib acceptance or silence, yet we have no intentions of doing anything. We have this thing of – I can show you better, than I can tell attitude. In this situation we learn in vivid color, two wrongs don’t make anything right or godly. But more importantly, we see no collaboration and not anyone working together.  What we see is parallel play, with no intention to interacting. This is because there is no trust in the leader, as everyone acts selfishly.

You will never get a buy-in from those you lead, if they do not trust you. They will never trust you, when your actions, words, and goals are selfishly motivated, and your track record with them is sketchy. This will result in your being a leader of none, and have a team of choas following leadership. If the leader is self-motivated, focus on my world, what I want, thus, so will the people because we teach not only with our words, but what we model for others to see. If what is shown and what is said, conflicts, we will always defer to what is done. So, if you desire others to buy into your vision begin building their trust and model the behavior you desire. Because even if you come out on top later, the seed of distrust and chaos has been planted festering until it can appear to get you…Having buy in is important.  The irony to all of this is – if we are walking according to God, and follow His leadership, He will reconcile the leader and people unto Himself, thus all shall align…We make the choice, but never the consequences or its impact…