Everything on Influence Tactics

Issue selling is a sustained campaign involving one-on-one socialization, elevator pitches, and iterative feedback, rather than a single presentation. The initial goal should be securing buy-in to explore the idea, not immediate approval.

Impact: Treating idea promotion as a campaign builds stakeholder authorship, bulletproofs proposals, and leverages small wins to generate sustainable organizational momentum.

— from Middle Managers Drive Transformation Through Strategic Issue Selling · HBR On Leadership· May 20, 2026