Case Study: Proof Positive that Ingaged Leadership Works

 My new book Ingaging Leadership explains a new way to lead that invites everyone in an organization to act as true partners in achieving excellence.  People who are trying it are already telling me, “This works!” But as you might expect, some people who haven’t tried Ingaged Leadership yet think that it sounds almost too good to be true. They want to know, is it really possible to achieve great results with my new way to lead?Yes, it is. In fact, it’s a great idea. In today’s post, I’d like to prove the point by telling you about a time when I used Ingaged Leadership to achieve exceptionally good results.Ingagement Works Its Magic at a ConventionThe managers of a leading consumer brand approached me in 2013 with a very specific challenge. Their annual convention was coming up, an event attended by owners of their brand-specific stores across America. The executives were planning to unveil a new store design, and they wanted me to help them increase attendance at the convention.In previous years, only about 20% of storeowners had come to the convention. And it was a very big priority to get as many of them as possible to attend. Without their buy-in on the new store design, its adoption and use would not be as successful as the company leaders were hoping.Company leaders were hoping that I could get as many as 40% or 50% of all store owners to come to the convention. But I surpassed that number and was actually able to get more than 85% of them to be there.How did I help this company achieve those dramatic results? Plain and simple, through Ingagement. I began by asking a group of franchisees to describe their experiences at the annual conventions. Most of their comments were similar to this: “I have a lot of fun and everybody socializes, but there is no real reason for me to go. I will never learn anything that company management will not tell me via other means.”So I went back to management and asked a simple question. Instead of simply pulling the curtains off a new design at the convention, would they consider bringing three or four designs-in-progress and then allowing franchisees to make suggestions about them? Management agreed and showcased several new designs. After franchisees reviewed them, we encouraged them to make suggestions and refinements.In that way, I was able to shift the dynamic from, “They’re going to talk to me” to, “They’re going to talk with me.” That changed the whole meeting from “95% listen and 5% contribute” to “50% listen and 50% contribute.” What a difference.The result was not only a good design, but also one that reflected the front-line, real-world intelligence that only storeowners could provide. People who provided input were excited about the design that resulted, because they had enjoyed a role in creating it. I predict that as stores roll out the new design, their customers are going to love it – and that profits will increase.Consider Adding a Copy of Ingaging Leadership to Your Professional ResourcesThere is nothing theoretical about Ingaging Leadership – its principles have been proven to work in many organizations. To purchase a copy on for your bookshelf, click on the book cover at the top of today's post.