Buy in. Cash out.

The degree to which employees buy into a strategy, is directly related to how much they are guaranteed to cash out in the future.

When senior management are adamant in taking a company in a certain direction, you can be sure that there are large personal payouts directly linked to that approach specifically for them.

There will be lots of talk about getting 'everyone on the same page' and the need for all staff to 'buy in to the strategy', but nobody is going to be as invested in that strategy as those whose bank balance is set to grow astronomically as a direct result.

It's always rather cringy when a CEO, who is taking home more than 1000 times what the lowest paid worker gets paid, goes on about the need for a 'strong company culture' and that 'success is a team effort'. Blah blah blah.

These things are said as if nobody else is aware of what's really going on inside of the company. Either the hubris is intentional or as a result of naivety, but on both accounts this is not the kind of person that should be leading anybody into any kind of future.

True leadership is authentic and requires humility. A good company culture comes from facing up to the truth and not being afraid to confront blindspots, barriers and old thinking that is holding the organisation back.

If you want people to take personal ownership of their part in a strategy then bear in mind the simple adage: Buy in. Cash out.

The rule of thumb is: 'Don't tell people who arrived at work on a crowded train, that you are all an important part of one big happy team, from the front seat of your Ferrari.'