Chapter 3 · Tool
Nemawashi — Going Around the Roots
Influencing without authority and managing in a matrix are deeply linked. Nemawashi — the Japanese practice of laying the groundwork before a decision — turns the formal meeting from a fight into a confirmation. Done well, change meets less resistance because everyone has already given consent.
How to use it
Step 01
Map the roots
Who must be heard before the decision? Sceptics first, allies second. Map them with the Stakeholder Map and prioritise high power / high interest.
Step 02
Listen, don't sell
Share information about the impending change. Ask what they would need to support, oppose, or amend it. These are not pre-pitches; they are root-prep.
Step 03
Adapt the proposal visibly
Fold in what you heard. People support what they helped shape — and the decision becomes durable, not just announced.
Step 04
Walk into the meeting empty
If you've done the work, the meeting is short. Consensus is already there. The transformation into a well-functioning matrix happens conversation by conversation, not slide by slide.
Reflection
Sit with these questions.
- →Where am I trying to win in the meeting what I should have built outside it?
- →Whose objection am I avoiding the conversation with?
- →What would I learn if I asked the sceptic first?
- →How might my decisions be more durable if they were rooted before they were announced?
Inside TOP Academy
Nemawashi sounds simple until you try it on a real reorg. The Academy walks each leader through their actual upcoming decision — who to talk to, in what order, with what question — and follow-up coaching keeps you doing the work in the corridor, not just the workshop.
The Leadership Essentials programme has run with 350+ leaders across Europe and Asia — blending the book's models with peer coaching, real-life cases, and follow-through that sticks.
See the programmeWant to work this through with us?
Explore it together in a free online session with Sonja.