Start with the Heart: Why Key Personal Investment Beats Key Performance Indicators
Want Buy-In? Ask for Their Heart, Not Just Their Head
You can't align minds until you've earned their hearts. What if the KPI that mattered most…was personal?
In my years helping organizations align purpose, people, and process, one lesson keeps surfacing: before you can align minds to a new initiative, you need to connect with their hearts.
We often lead with metrics—KPIs, dashboards, performance goals. But here’s a reframing I’ve been sharing with clients lately: start with a different kind of KPI—Key Personal Investment.
When people feel seen, valued, and trusted, they show up with more than compliance—they bring commitment. That emotional buy-in is the bridge to strategic alignment. Because let’s be honest: most resistance to change isn’t about capability; it’s about connection. Until you engage someone's sense of purpose, the process will feel transactional, even intrusive.
Whether you’re rolling out a new system, shifting strategy, or designing a learning program, here’s what I’ve found works:
💡 Action Steps
Begin with empathy – Ask what's on people's minds before asking them to adopt yours.
Model vulnerability – Share your own investment in the change. Let people see the “why” behind your “what.”
Invite contribution – Give people a stake in shaping the initiative, not just following it.
It’s a simple shift—from pushing a process to building belief. And that shift is what transforms implementation into influence.
If you’re navigating organizational change or refining how your team leads with impact, I’d love to talk. Let's explore how you can strengthen personal investment before setting the performance benchmarks.
#LeadershipDevelopment #EmotionalIntelligence #OrganizationalChange #PeopleFirstStrategy #KPI