How do we achieve consensus?

When it comes to spreading ideas, there are battles for the minds of the stakeholders. Each person has different and usually contradicting ideas about the objectives and how they should be achieved.  What motivates others to follow and support our vision? The answer is sell, sell, and sell. For me effective selling isn't so much in the speech. It is in understanding our stakeholders, their needs and their willingness to buy into the solution. By adapting our vision to our stakeholders and allowing them to participate in the solution, we greatly increase the chances for success. For the poor, eradicating poverty may mean greater organization and access to tools for self-help. For the rich it may mean investment in education facilities and infrastructure to increase the availability of skilled workers.

The dark side to influencing others occurs when it is carried out with negative emotions. How are the stakeholders being motivated? Through hate, fear, anger and blaming others, or through passion, empathy, enthusiasm and love of achievement and team work? For me, to achieve true consensus each of the stakeholders should buy into the idea with their own logical thought process that will guide them through the tasks ahead of them. In nature we can clearly see the difference between a swarm of locusts following blindly and leaving a trail of destruction, and a colony of ants with roles and responsibilities geared towards growth and sustainability. After all the emotion has evaporated and we are confronted with hard work, each of us must find inspiration in doing what is right for us. Leaders should demonstrate through example that each of us in the collective must assume full responsibility for our actions and be accountable for the results.