You want your ideas to not only be heard, but to be seen as valuable. If your ideas are being shot down, it does not necessarily mean that you are not a valued leader in your company, there may be several reasons why your idea was not accepted as you thought it would be. Let’s talk about four ways to skillfully present your ideas so that they are heard and considered by your peers and superiors.

1. Get a Grounding of the situation

Look at it from a top-down perspective. Look at the big picture and remove your feelings from the situation. What is the context and the urgency that served the idea? What reason, and why now, is it important?

There is usually an agenda to the meeting. If you insert an idea that doesn’t go with the purpose of the meeting, it may automatically by default be shot down.

If the idea is meant to serve an urgent need, be sure to present it as such. If the meeting does not have that need as part of its agenda it is best to wait until the meeting business has been completed and then ask to address a separate need before the meeting ends.

2. If This is a Pattern, Why?

If you feel like your ideas are constantly being shut down, you need to dig deeper. Think about what ideas HAVE been accepted. What made those ideas unique and what problems did they solve? Who was attached to the implementation and execution of those ideas? Was the idea presented at a specific time or linked to a specific agenda?

If you can look at the answers to these questions you will find a pattern that is emerging here. What is that pattern? This doesn’t mean you have to go with the status quo, but it may help you understand why your ideas are being perceived a certain way.

3. Gain Support

As you present your ideas, in whatever form you do, try and garner some support. Try to have some commonality in situations or experiences with others that will allow you to gain their support as well.

If you can relate to your peers, they may speak up in favor of your idea, which may then cause the other leaders in your company to give it more thought.

4. Reframe the Situation Overall

Rather than taking it purely as a personal experience and feeling as if they are rejecting you as opposed to rejecting the idea. Look at it from a very sanitized point of view. Identify how your IDEA has an impact. Who is impacted and is it in a positive or negative way.

Identify the consequences of not acting on that idea. What will happen if we DON’T do this? Show the consequence. The buy-in that comes with this may lend credibility to your idea.

Lastly, be realistic about the situation. If the culture of your company is that of conformity or rigid conservatism, something new and out of the ordinary may not be heard. If your company has a culture that allows you to experiment and explore then you can be more creative with your ideas.

Get a grounding for your audience and how your ideas evolve within that situation. This will give you additional inspiration about how to go about introducing new ideas.

If you are struggling with being able to own your ideas and feel confident about how you go about communicating the essential functions of what you do on a daily basis, I can help! If you would like to continue the conversation, comment below or reach out for a no-cost consultation with me.