Does this sound familiar?
- I have a strong idea, but leadership is not taking it seriously.
- My idea was heard, but it did not go anywhere.
- I do not have the authority or budget to implement the change myself.
- I do not know what decision-makers need to see before they will sponsor an idea.
- I struggle to connect my idea to priorities, KPIs, risk, ROI and implementation.
- I want to influence change without becoming political, pushy or discouraged.
- I know I can contribute more, but I do not have a repeatable way to move an idea forward.
If more than one of those is yours, this session was built for you. None of them is a sign that you are wrong. They are the ordinary experience of trying to move something inside an organization you do not run.
One thing to be clear about. Getting your ideas heard does not mean that every idea should be approved. It means learning how to bring forward ideas in a way that helps people understand them, seriously consider them, and see how they connect to what matters.
You may be an intrapreneur if
- You regularly notice things that could be better.
- You care enough to want to improve them.
- You do not yet have the authority, budget or position to make the change alone.
- You want to contribute beyond the boundaries of your job description.
It is not a job title. It is a way of contributing, and it happens in operations, technology, finance, HR, customer service, marketing, healthcare, education and almost any other function.
Why do good ideas get ignored?
Some of the usual answers are real. Some managers are poor listeners. Some workplaces punish initiative. Some cultures are overly political.
We are not here to excuse bad management or to pretend that every environment is healthy. But even when your criticism is justified, blaming the manager does not increase your influence. So there is another question worth asking: what might be happening that I cannot see from my side of the table?
When someone brings an idea forward, the manager is rarely evaluating only whether it sounds good. They are also asking:
- Is this connected to our priorities?
- What will it cost, and what will it interrupt?
- What risk does it create, and who else will be affected?
- Who will implement it, and what has already been attempted?
- What happens if it fails?
A good idea is important. But the idea is only one part of the decision.
You may know your idea very well without knowing the world into which you are introducing it.Mentor Dida
The Manager's World Check
Seven questions you answer privately during the session. Most people find they cannot answer four or more.
- Can you name your manager's three most important priorities right now?
- Do you know how their performance is measured?
- Do you know what they are rewarded for, or held accountable for?
- Do you know what pressure they are getting from their own leadership?
- Do you know what has already been tried in the area you want to improve?
- Do you know what risk they would personally carry if your idea did not work?
- Do you know who else they would need to involve or convince?
What happens in the hour
Eight short segments, each with something for you to do. You will be writing, answering polls and putting things in the chat throughout.
This is an introduction and a first application, not the whole Journey. One hour will not make anyone fluent in a five-week method, and we are not going to claim otherwise. What it will do is give you a way of looking at a stuck idea that you can use the same week.
You cannot influencewhat you do not understand.
The session turns on one question, and it is the one Mentor puts to the room after the two conversations have played out: are you stepping on someone's toes, or are you stepping into the problem with them?
The difference is not softer wording. It is a change of posture, from "I already understand the problem and have the answer" to "I see something worth exploring, and I want to understand your perspective before deciding what should happen."
That posture has a name in the Intrapreneurship Journey. Gaining Perspective, practiced through four actions you will use in the session and can use the same week.
- Observe what leaders repeatedly discuss, measure, fund, reward and worry about.
- Ask questions that help you understand the current reality before you suggest a new one.
- Listen to learn, not merely to find the right moment to introduce your idea.
- Clarify that what you heard is what they meant. Do not build your idea on an assumption.
We are not asking you to become less ambitious. We are asking you to become more curious, more informed and more strategic. That is not stepping back from leadership. That is beginning to lead.
What you leave with
- A clear read on why your idea may not have landed, separate from whether it was a good idea
- Seven questions you can answer about anyone you are trying to influence
- One question you could have asked first, written down in your own words
- One thing to pay more attention to in your next conversation at work
Who this is for
People who can see how their organization could work better, and who do not control the budget, the authority or the final decision. You do not need to manage anyone. Many attendees have no direct reports at all. What matters is that there is something you have been trying to move and it has not moved.
Emerging leaders · New managers · High-potential employees · Strategy · Operations · Product · Innovation · Technology · Transformation · Social impact
What this session is not
- A lecture about intrapreneurship
- A motivational speech
- A manager-blaming session
- A complete course on influencing
- A promise that every idea will be approved
- A compressed version of the entire cohort
- A hard sales presentation
Who runs it
Two perspectives. One vision.
Most of the energy in the session comes from the conversation between the two of them, and they are deliberately doing different jobs. Brent makes the other side of the table visible. Mentor holds the room and makes the learning usable.
Brent Martini
Former Fortune 50 executive and advisor
Decades of leadership across corporate, entrepreneurial and nonprofit settings, beginning at Bergen Brunswig. He has spent much of his career on both sides of this table, bringing ideas forward and being responsible for deciding which ideas to support. In the session he explains what managers and senior leaders may be carrying, and what creates confidence or hesitation when a new idea arrives.
Mentor Dida
Educator, facilitator and learning designer
Founder of Changemaker Allies, designing transformative learning journeys for intrapreneurs and emerging leaders. He has served as Global Futurist in Residence at ASU's College of Global Futures and hosts the Facilitating Change podcast. In the session he names the frustration honestly, runs the reflection, and connects the work to how a career actually grows.
Common questions
- Is the workshop free?
- Yes. There is no cost and no obligation to join anything afterwards.
- Is it live?
- Yes, and it is interactive rather than a presentation. You will be polled, asked to write, and invited into the chat throughout.
- How long is it?
- Sixty minutes, with an optional fifteen minutes of questions afterwards.
- Do I need to prepare anything?
- No. Do not bring a formal idea or a document. You only need some experience of working inside an organization and seeing something that could be better.
- Will there be time for questions?
- Yes. There is an optional fifteen minutes at the end, and you can send a question when you register. Questions that apply to several people are answered first.
- Do I need to manage a team?
- No. Attendees come from across organizations and many have no direct reports. What matters is that you have an idea you are trying to move.
- Is this for entrepreneurs or for people working inside organizations?
- Inside organizations. Intrapreneurship is the practice of moving new ideas within a company you do not own, working with the priorities, systems and people already there rather than starting from nothing.