Mini-masterclass with Powrsuit co-founders Nat and Kristen.
You’ve done the work, and you’ve even got everyone in the room. But your idea doesn’t land. What happened? You probably blindsided everyone! When you present a fully formed solution, you’re expecting stakeholders to get excited about work that’s already done – without their input. They haven’t shaped it, so it doesn’t reflect their priorities or input. Result? Resistance.
You can get a completely different result with one small tweak: reversing the process and including your stakeholders early:
1️⃣ Map your stakeholders: Not everyone matters equally. Some can kill your project with one conversation, others just need to be informed. High-power stakeholders can influence the specific outcome (and it’s not always about seniority!). They’d also be more likely to be annoyed finding out details in a formal meeting rather than being prepped beforehand.
2️⃣ Have a discovery conversation early: Before you have all the answers, ask: ‘What’s your biggest headache in this area?’ and ‘What would good look like to you?’ This conversation isn’t about pitching but shaping your thinking. You’ll know you’ve done them well when it alters your approach. In these conversations, you’ll uncover champions (people who will fight for your idea) and sceptics.
3️⃣ Bring them along with updates: Keep stakeholders in the loop as you progress – exploration updates (‘here’s my thinking, anything I’m missing?’), feedback updates (‘based on your concern about X, I’ve done Y’), and commitment updates (‘almost ready to present, does this make sense?’). By the time you present, it’s a formality. The buy-in’s already happened.
The payoff: When people have been involved along the way, two things happen: the solution improves (you catch issues early), and they become invested (they want it to succeed).
Powrsuit replaces exclusive, time-intensive professional development with small actions that work around real life. Join now to access this, and over 70 more bite-sized lessons, along with peer coaching, a private network and plenty of other member benefits.
"This was really helpful - I’ve been working on a big piece of work this year and providing updates along the way, but they’ve been when I felt I hit a major milestone.. If the discovery questions were done I’d have known what milestones were important to the business… good insights for next time!"
"Oooh this is so good, I wish I’d seen it earlier. Learning how to neutralise critics in the “right way” is super helpful."
