What To Do When Your Ideas Are Not Being Heard

Being successful is the goal every leader strives to achieve. However, leadership is an ability that few people are born with. It takes skills, training, and experience to develop into a successful leader. You need to empower your team to get results, balance your time between managing, fulfilling your personal responsibilities, and generating new ideas that will positively impact your company.

Let’s focus on the last of those responsibilities. Being the idea person may not be a problem for you. You know what goes on in the company, have plenty of experience, and have excellent ideas. You strongly feel those ideas can help your team and your company be more productive, efficient, and successful. The problem is that those ideas seem rarely heard.

You ask yourself, how can I expect to be a successful leader if my ideas are not being implemented?

When your ideas fall on deaf ears, it is frustrating, demotivating, and prevents you from being the successful leader you aspire to be. You begin to wonder whether you should keep pitching new ideas or even continue to work at the company. And if you feel this way, it is likely others at your company feel the same. That is why you need to rise up, find out how to be heard, and then show others how to do the same. A true leader leads by example.

How to get others to listen to your ideas?

While you might think your superiors don’t value your opinion, do not see your vision, or simply don’t care. It is more likely, however, that communication issues are the likely culprit when your ideas aren’t being heard. How you communicate an idea is almost as important as the idea itself. Learning how to correctly present and frame your concepts can ensure your idea is not only heard but accepted and moved forward.

Here are 9 proven strategies to solidify your ideas and communicate them more effectively:

• Identify the problem your idea will solve or the opportunity it will provide.

• Have reputable data to back up your position and a clear plan to implement your idea. Consider and address how implementing your idea will affect your company’s resources and colleagues.

• Defend your idea. Anticipate potential questions and objections and be ready to respond to them.*

• Make sure your presentation is clear, concise, and memorable – practice it several times out loud.

• Involve your audience. Research shows that people on the receiving end of ideas are more open to them when they take part in their development.^

• Use the ‘Rule of 3’s’. Information presented in three’s (3 bullet points, 3 arguments, 3 reasons, etc.) sticks in our heads more easily.^

• Avoid presenting your ideas when your boss will be the busiest like mornings and Mondays.^

• Close your presentation by reiterating your main idea, answering questions, and asking for a decision deadline.

• Be ready to flex and ask “what can we do together so we can reach this outcome?”

The Bottom Line

Exceptional leaders have great ideas. But when their ideas aren’t heard, opportunities can be lost.

I help leaders uncover the real issues affecting their leadership. Let’s talk so I can help clarify your ideas and get them heard.

Let’s turn conversations into outcomes.

References:

* themuse.com
** fortune.com
^ www.entrepreneur.com