4 Ways to Practice the Art of Commitment
Shallow commitment cheapens leadership.
Half-hearted leaders may have titles, but they can’t inspire commitment.
7 profound benefits of deep commitment:
- Self-respect. Drifting dishonors you and your maker.
- Clarity. Vague commitments cripple and confuse. You don’t know where to go or what to do when you aren’t committed. The less committed you are, the more confused you become.
- Decisions. Goals enable “no”. Commitments turn shiny objects into distractions.
- Fulfillment. Commitment leads to contribution. Contribution produces fulfillment.
- Trust. Commitments produce consistency. Put your trust in the committed, not the talent of the uncommitted. Commitment trumps talent.
- Courage. Cowardice is unwillingness to make commitments. Courage follows commitment.
- Boldness. Bold action springs from commitment to meaningful mission.
The art of commitment:
You’ll commit to anything, if you don’t know who you are.
When you inspire someone to commit, you provide a channel of self-expression.
Help people commit to behaviors that align with who they are. For example, I constantly think about ideas. No one has to tell me to come up with ideas. I just do. It’s always been that way.
It hurts when I think about organizing. I can and must do it, but it drains me. If you want fresh ideas, call me. If you want an organizer, call someone else.
Writing Leadership Freak expresses, expands, and extends who I am. It’s about ideas.
The beauty of commitment is self-expression.
4 ways to practice the art of commitment:
- Be deeply committed yourself. Do something that makes others shake their heads and wonder how you do it. Obsession and commitment are cousins.
- Create space for people to find and express their authentic self.
- Listen to their story.
- Provide reflection time after achievement.
- Learn and leverage strengths and aspirations.
- Connect work with self-expression. How does what you do express who you are?
- Align work with things that matter to them.
What prevents people from making commitments?
How might leaders inspire deep commitment in others?
Dan true commitment can not be overstated. When my company was on the verge of bankruptcy a small team of us led the effort to solve a very complex debt restructuring. We came to believe the 100 year old business was worth saving and became committed to doing just that. Our strong commitment helped the rest of the company overcome the fear and uncertainty of the situation. I also believe that the resulting company wide commitment was sensed by our creditors which helped us resolve the crisis together.
You can overcome a lot if you and your team have real belief in what you are trying to do.
Brad
Brad James, author The Business Zoo
Thanks Brad. Love that you brought belief to this conversation and modeling the way to this conversation.
This statement is so powerful, “We came to believe that 100 year old business was worth saving…” The heart of commitment is belief.
Good morning Dan. Thanks for the article. Commitment is a huge advantage to success for teams and individuals. I have seen many great ideas put out there by some pretty smart people. But without true commitment, not the “Sure! Sounds like a good idea.” response, those great ideas will be like a ship that sails too close to the rocks for fear of going out in the deep waters. When a strong wind blows, the ship will be destroyed against the rocks. With real commitment, the team or individual will go out in the deep waters. Storms will still come, but the likelihood of success is multiplied exponentially.
Thanks Jay. You make me think how we are less than we could be when we don’t find something worth our commitment.
It seems that a soft yes is worse than a hard no. At least you don’t waste any time and demean yourself when you say no.
What prevents people from making commitments?
That in many organisations the definition of commitment is “how often you’re here when you should be kissing your children goodnight/being at parents’ evening/watching the school show”
Thanks Mitch. You bring up an important issue. Can you be “committed” to your organization and career while being committed to your family?
If kissing the kids goodnight matters to you, choose your organization with that in mind.
Who recently earned promotions. Did they neglect their family to achieve their promotion?
Dan this is such a great post. I was once a new leader and sadly, not terribly committed. Then I worked hard, had my ‘ah-ah’ moment and then my team was productive and on fire. Now as an HR consultant I coach managers on being committed, it will pay HUGE dividends. Thank you for outlining the benefits of commitment. From a believer!
Thank you, sir.
Dan,
I’ve been reading many of your blogs recently, and I really appreciate your insight. Thanks for taking the time to share! To answer your question:
What prevents people from making commitments?
I always think it’s fear of the unknown. If I commit to this, what unexpected and potentially bad side effect comes along with it?
However, when I ask an employee what’s holding them back, usually it’s just a communication issue. They have a concern, and many times it is a fear that I can easily relieve for them.
It does get me, though, when it’s deeper, and they seem to be unwilling to share.
How might leaders inspire deep commitment in others?
I think your suggestion about aligning work with what matters to them is perfect. Some of my mostly deeply committed employees are the ones with whom I know what their life and work goals are, and we talk about them regularly.
Thanks, again!
Joe
I truly love reading your posts. They’re simple and you always put a unique spin on your training or thoughts. For so many years it’s been the same old thing.
Time After Time After Time. A little bit about myself. I’m 57 and a rarity in this world because most people over 45 in my opinion are computer dummies.
Illiterate when it comes to how computers work. I’m not an expert in many computer programs but I take pride in running call centers and have been in solar energy for the last 8 years. 20 years managing call centers and prior to that I was a frustrated water chemist. Like they say a mind is a terrible thing to waste. Solar energy is one the hottest markets in the country to be involved with. I take pride in being an expert in voice over IP cloud-based technology, data acquisition and data modeling and I can run a predictive dialing system like a fine-tuned Ferrari like nobody else in the country.
I currently work for a very large Solar Company based in New Jersey and I run the call center operations in Fort Lauderdale Florida. I’ve had tremendous success Outsourcing call centers also and have a call center here in Fort Lauderdale and also manage all the campaignsfrom the US.
I feel the Hispanic market is totally under served in the US in many verticals. Honestly I don’t speak any Spanish. But manage small call center team in Cali Colombia that charges $6 an hour great wages for Columbia. I also have another call center in Santiago Chile they work 45 hours a week charge $80 a week and $100 for a solar sale.
These are top-notch bilingual professionals and you would swear you’re speaking to a bilingual representative in Miami. I would love to talk with you someday and my original Mentor was a gentleman by the name of Winston Saga out of Auckland New Zealand. Quotes to live by and the last two are totally original. The first is never reinvent the wheel the wheel is proven and cost a lot of money to invent and its tried-and-true. PS I use voice texting so excuse any spelling errors or grammatical errors.
Second one is that always get the best bang for the buck and we’ll always squeeze a couple of extra pennies out of every dime that I spend for you. And in closing in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Thank God he took a chance because the world is not flat.