The phrase “what’s in it for me?” has a bad reputation. It is often misunderstood as selfishness, resistance, or a lack of commitment to the team. In reality, it is one of the most human questions in our organizational life. When it comes to work, people are trying to understand where they fit, how they can contribute, and whether their effort matters. If we spend 50% of our waking hours at work, isn’t it reasonable we should ask for the WIIFM?
The strongest organizations don’t dismiss WIIFM; they answer it. Leaders help people connect their daily work to the larger mission of the organization. Without that visibility, people naturally optimize only for their own function. With it, they begin thinking systemically, moving beyond their immediate responsibilities and considering the needs of the broader organization. This is where Kotter’s principle of “more leadership from more people” comes to life. When employees feel trusted to contribute ideas, solve problems, and influence outcomes, engagement increases because people no longer feel like passive recipients of change. They become active participants in building it. The organizations that adapt fastest are often the ones where people understand that their role is connected to something much larger than their immediate responsibilities.
Hearing WIIFM: What Leaders Should Really Hear
The challenge is that leaders often hear the question without hearing the meaning.
When someone asks, “What’s in it for me?”, people are simply looking for clarity. They want to understand how their role may change, what new expectations are emerging, and how they can prepare to be successful.
If leaders can learn to “dial into WIIFM radio,” they’ll begin hearing something entirely different. Instead of resistance, they’ll hear a desire for purpose. Instead of disengagement, they’ll hear curiosity. And instead of seeing employees who only care about themselves, they’ll discover people who want to know how they can make a meaningful contribution.
I saw this play out with a financial services client struggling to untangle its own financial processes. The irony was hard to miss: the organization had state-of-the-art systems, yet the transformation had launched without clearly addressing the WIIFM for the people responsible for making those systems work. Payments fell behind, invoices were repeatedly delayed, and tension grew between departments. Every team believed it was completing its part of the process correctly, yet the overall workflow continued to break down. The real issue only became visible when we brought everyone together to map the process from end to end. Each group understood its own responsibilities, but few understood how their work affected the next team downstream, or how a seemingly small delay or omission could disrupt the entire system. Once people could see the full picture, the conversation changed almost immediately. They stopped asking, “Is my part finished?” and started asking, “What does the next person need from me to succeed?” Nothing about the process itself had changed. What changed was perspective.
That lesson extends well beyond process improvement. Employees don’t just want to understand today’s assignment, they want to understand tomorrow’s opportunity, they want to see their career trajectory. Developing constructive WIIF conservations allows for building trust, developing career pathways, and planning for succession. If you’re building a high-performing team, your responsibility isn’t simply to help people succeed in their current role, it’s also to help them prepare for what’s next. Explaining why someone was selected for a project, what capabilities they’ll build, and how the experience connects to future opportunities communicates something incredibly powerful: I see a future for you here.
Asking WIIFM: What Team Members Should Really Be Asking
If you’re asking yourself, “What’s in it for me?” start by asking whether you can see how your work fits into the larger mission. As a team member, your role extends beyond completing your own tasks. The more clearly you understand how your work advances the organization’s mission and enables others to succeed, the more ownership you’ll feel, and the more effectively you’ll know when to lead, when to collaborate, and where you can create the greatest value.
Before you hit your boiling point, go into over-heated survive, and blurt out probing questions, consider reframing your WIIFM for better reception:
| When Waiting To Know… | Consider Asking… |
|---|---|
| Where am I going in my career? | How will my role evolve? How will this work help me grow as a leader and professional? |
| Why am I even on this project? | What unique perspective or expertise am I expected to contribute? Why does my work matter to the success of our organization? |
| How do I fit into the bigger picture? | How does my work contribute to the end-to-end process of our work? How does my work advance our mission and help others succeed? |
| What do I stand to gain? | Is there an expectation that my growth from this project will change my role in responsibilities or title? What new capabilities, relationships, or opportunities will I develop? |
| What do I stand to lose? | Are there any concerns or risks that you might have in launching this project that I should be aware of? What challenges should I anticipate, and how can I prepare for them? |
Why this matters. The outsized benefits of keeping your dial on WIIFM
As Kotter’s work often reinforces, transformation accelerates when people understand not just what they are doing, but why it matters. If people can’t see the role they play in the larger mission, they will naturally struggle to know when to lead, when to follow, and where they can make the greatest contribution. Understanding your job isn’t enough. Help people move from individual uncertainty to collective ownership.
Organizations move faster when leadership exists beyond hierarchy. This is why organizations that embrace more leadership from more people consistently outperform those that rely solely on hierarchy. When employees understand the role they play in the bigger picture, they begin solving problems outside their immediate lane, collaborating across boundaries, and taking ownership of outcomes they once believed belonged to someone else. Momentum builds because leadership is no longer concentrated at the top, it is distributed throughout the organization. Real momentum happens when people across teams begin sharing ownership of the mission.
The next time you hear someone ask, “What’s in it for me?” don’t assume they’re being selfish.
Listen a little longer. More often than not, they’re not asking for more. They’re asking where they belong.
About the Author:
Leslie Zemnick, Kotter Principal, is based in New York City and Washington, D.C.
