Advice Not Opinion

At CSR Communications, we often say that for intrapreneurs to succeed in realizing their vision for organizational change, there are three powerful things they need. We recently covered two of them: an?Experimenter’s Mindset?and a?Campaigner’s Commitment.)

The third? It's a cadre of change champions?to help carry the burden inside your organization and a?network of fellow intrapreneurs?outside your organization for insight and support. Read on for one tip to help you recruit change champions...

You probably know that one of the best ways to enroll allies or champions and our change plans to get others to help advance our ideas within our organizations is to invite co-creation. What you probably don't know is that we typically do that by saying, "Hey, can I get your opinion on something?" When we do that, that automatically triggers the critic brain. It pushes that person away from us, creates distance so that they can critique and tell us all the things that are wrong with our idea.

What we want to do instead is say, "Hey, can I get your advice on something?" which brings them closer to us, it triggers the partner, the co-creator part of our brain, and has us want to give you useful feedback and input and to feel ownership over that idea alongside you.

So keep inviting others to be part of your vision for change. But when you do it, ask for advice, not opinion.?

Nancy Murphy is Founder and President of CSR Communications, which specializes in helping socially-conscious organizations achieve their next big initiative & rapidly expand their impact. Nancy is creator of Intrapreneurs Influence Lab and brings over 30 years experience to the work she does as a trainer, speaker, and advisor to local and federal government agencies, non-profits, philanthropies and businesses. Learn more at?csrcommunications.com.