"Brad, I can't seem to get my workers to 'buy-in' to what we're doing as a company."

I have heard some version of this statement from owners and field leaders for years. While there are a number of strategies you might employ to "win over" your employees to a more team approach, let's first identify a few critical reasons why there is resistance to "buy-in."

Reasons for Resistance to Team Buy-in

No. 1 Too Much Head Buffalo
If there is a senior leader who is too controlling, making every decision, planning every project, there is little incentive for those in the "herd." While not every worker is lazy, a good majority of employees want to participate somewhere, somehow.

No. 2 There's Nothing to Buy-in To
This is a classic case of an owner simply not having anything of tangible means to reward or recognize their workers. From minority ownership to some bonus program, if the worker has nothing to look forward to receiving there may be little reason for them to buy-in to an owner's efforts to motivate better performance.

No. 3 Little to No Team Chemistry
Even professional sports teams fight this. Consider how many millionaires make up some teams, yet the coaches for those teams often get fired because they couldn't get the players to work together. Chemistry is huge! You don't need five, ten, fifteen superstars; rather, you need a few "thoroughbreds" and a lot of role players to fit around them.