In this episode, Bart speaks with Dave Garrison, Founder and Chief Navigating Officer of Garrison Growth, about his new book The Buy-In Advantage. They explore why employee engagement is at a decade low, the forces driving disengagement, and why it’s critical for leaders to overcome these challenges to build a fully committed workforce. Dave shares practical, no-cost strategies leaders can use to foster authentic buy-in—shifting from “telling” to “asking,” recognizing employees as human beings (not just human doings), and connecting people’s work to purpose and growth. A timely and valuable conversation for leaders at all levels, offering concrete tools to inspire and engage teams in an era when it matters more than ever.

Get your copy of The Buy-In Advantage here: https://buyinbook.com/

00:37 Show intro

01:14 Welcoming Dave Garrison

01:51 What is a Chief Navigating Officer?

03:14 Dave's career background

04:27 The story of seeing a shaman

05:54 Removing artificial constraints

06:48 Walking out of the corporate world into CNO

07:22 What it was like to leave the job he had

07:53 The business was funded on credit card debt

08:18 How the venture has evolved in the last 10 years

09:27 About his new book

10:59 Creating engagement

11:06 Game-changing orgs always have 3 elements

11:38 How do leaders build an environment for engagement?

12:52 What is the buy-in crisis? And where does it come from?

13:49 Gen Z values – money less important, impact with like-minded people

14:59 What's driving the buy-in crisis

16:17 Two-thirds don’t care about the company

16:32 The costs of lack of engagement

16:53 Churn is a waste of time and resources

17:49 Are companies just grinning and bearing it with turnover?

19:01 How do great leaders foster buy-in

19:27 Give up on the bully or bribe approach

20:15 Why can’t people be as enthusiastic about jobs as they are about sports?

20:50 The way the boss sees things is only one way

21:02 Collective genius

21:22 Human beings, not human doings

22:10 Sense of purpose

22:34 Challenges and opportunities to learn and grow

22:57 Bart summarizes main points so far

23:35 Warning signs that buy-in is not occurring

26:21 What lets you know this is a great idea?

26:48 Don’t share your idea — share the problem

27:36 Example of Jeff Edison’s leadership

30:16 Ask questions instead of providing answers

32:08 Example of older leaders stuck in ‘answer mode’

34:05 Teachers with right answers

34:52 Where are we with workforce engagement?

35:21 We’re at a decade-low in engagement

36:23 Where to find The Buy-In Advantage

37:15 Thank Yous

37:28 Outro