The most important thing when you have an idea is to get it implemented, right?
Does it matter to you if you are the one to sell the idea or if someone else does it for you instead? It doesn’t mean that you are going to give your idea away or lose the credit for the idea. It just means that depending on the situation you are in, you may have to do things differently to move your idea forward.
You may run into a situation where the person that you want to influence isn’t someone that you know well and you haven’t established enough credibility with them yet. This doesn’t mean that you can’t make it happen. You just need to find an influencer that can bring you together.
You can build an alliance with an influencer that the decision-maker already knows and trusts.
The decision-maker will listen to the influencer and because this influencer vouches for you, it helps to bring some of their credibility over to you. This support can be bridged to you through an introduction or you can have the meeting with them together.
Not everyone has close ties with every person in an organization.
This is where you need to get creative and leverage a third person to help you. They can help you sell the idea and give you ways to have a conversation with a person that you want to influence. This approach helps you sell your idea and now you also have a new relationship with this decision-maker for future discussions.