The Power of Buying-In

The results of the 8 March General Election (GE) have changed Malaysia's political landscape. With five states fallen into the hands of Pakatan Rakyat, sooner or later, this change will certainly have some implications - for better or worst - on the society and economy.

In my previous postings, I have delved into some leadership principles and lessons learned. These principles and lessons learned are not necessarily exhaustive. I have also tried to critically analyze the presence of these principles in Malaysian leaders especially in regard to the performance of the recent GE. Through this analysis, I have somehow felt that there is a missing link. And, that missing link could probably explain the 'tsunami' that eventually changed Malaysia's political scenario.

In trying to find this missing link, I have resorted to various sources of information including electronic media - e-newspapers, YouTube video-clips and blogs such as BN Manifesto; PAS Manifesto, here and here; PKR Manifesto, here and here; DAP Campaign, here and here; and Pakatan Rakyat's Mission, here.

My analysis uncovered:
1. That there is a very close relationship between; firstly, the leader - that is centered on leadership attributes and influence, and secondly, the leader's vision - that is the destination the leader wants to take his followers to.
2. That it is quite natural for people to follow leaders that are stronger than themselves.
3. That people will only line-up behind the leader when they have bought-in both the leader as well as his vision.
4. That leaders first need to set a dream (vision) and then find his people.
5. That people first find their leaders and then their dreams.

Given the backdrop on the significance of leaders' attributes and their vision, the recent GE manifested that some leaders were able to not only buy-in but swing the people's support towards them. Others, though still in position, felt that they are slowly loosing the people who traditionally used to support them.These were due to leaders' ability to articulate and then align themselves or otherwise, to the people's dreams and wishes.

Politicians called this 'makkal sakhti', management and leadership gurus refer this as the power of buying-in. In much simpler terms, it is leadership engagement or organizational acceptance.

Perhaps, these video clips (1, 2, 3) give you better impressions of the points discussed above.