You’ve mastered your own fear, now what about theirs?

You have figured out what needs to be done. It’s totally clear. You’ve analyzed the data, consulted the runes, polled the experts, flipped the tarot cards. The Holy Spirit even came to you as you stood in line at the coffee shop and spoke to you, reading thine thoughts and, with a rod and an outstretched hand, He did commandeth thou to lead thine organization to the Promised Land, the path to which only you have seen.

Well, isn’t that nice, you think to yourself the next morning, as you watch your coworkers file past you and fart-knock their way in. Now that you’ve heard the voice of God, listening to the intermittent sound of the door automatically unlatching as people hip check the security plaque seems far too profane for your ears. For the life of you, you can’t imagine how you are going to convey your epiphany to others.

“How do I convince them?” you wonder. “They are all making a grave error and need to listen to me if they are to be saved! They will be afraid of the path forward because it is different/strange/new/difficult, but if they knew what I know, they’d jump aboard because they’d be afraid of maintaining the status quo!”

Here’s how to sway your coworkers:

1. Forget “them.” Not “forget them” as in “leave them behind,” but forget “them” as in, “It’s not them you need to work on, it’s you.” When band leaders take their band down the parade route, they don’t herd. They don’t push the tuba players into the drummers until everyone is moving forward. Thinking about how to sway your peers is like thinking about how to get the best grip on the tuba player for maximum thrust. No! band leaders don’t shepherd their band, they lead! They turn their back to the group and blaze a trail… hopefully having secured the band’s trust before hand! There is a reason that “leader” and “shepherd” are different words. So first thing: don’t worry about herding others. Focus on leading. By example.
2. Speak their language. Studies show that intelligence matters in a leader… you can’t have too little, and you shouldn’t have too much, either. The most effective leaders tend to be a bit smarter than their followers, but not so much smarter that they constantly talk over peoples’ heads. So if you see something that others don’t see, remember that you are smarter in that area than they are, and don’t let yourself get too far ahead, or you’ll lose ‘em. Or they’ll lose you. Either way, it’s bad. Take them by the brain and walk them from where they are to where you want them to be. Use their language. Put your idea in terms that make sense to them where they are right now.
3. Act, don’t talk. Rather than argue, go get results and let the results do the talking. Now is the time to take that calculated career risk. Of course, don’t ignore your job responsibilities… for instance, rather than ignore a directive, accept the direction and then ALSO fight for the opportunity to set up a small skunk-works operation on the side where you can “play.”
4. Work harder. If you truly believe in the new direction, be prepared to prove it. Someone who throws out an idea like, “Hey, I think we should turn left… guys, I *really* think we should turn left,” isn’t a leader, he’s a backseat driver. A leader presents photos from the reconnaissance mission he undertook on his own accord the night before.
5. Give it time. You had your epiphany, and you’re chomping at the bit to get moving. But before the lightbulb went off and turned your hair all shock-white, you were just like everyone else around you, in the same state of sleep walking. Don’t get mad when they don’t see what you’re talking about. Remember, God himself had to hold a mountain over the Jews to get them to accept His word, and that was only *after* all the other nations of the world blew Him off. You don’t have any mountains, nor His gift for words. Cut yourself—and others—some slack.

Jason Seiden is Co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media, a training company that shows professionals how use social media to work more effectively.