Leadership and Commitment
What are some words that you say to describe when you’re going to do something, take action, or build a new habit?
I come up with:
Intention.
Determination.
Commitment
Brings to mind the great saying: Do what you say you’re going to do. (Sidenote: This quote is attributed to Jimmy Dean and the full quote includes, “And try to do it a little better than you said you would.’ Which becomes ironic as you keep reading below.)
I was on a team once with a manager who is also a friend. His promotion to manager was a case of one day he was on the team, and the next day he was managing the team of peers he was just a colleague to.
Our team’s annual goal was to measure our program’s direct influence over the business - tying what we did directly to the bottom line.
Part of our reasoning for creating these KPIs was to set ourselves apart from other programs that talked a good game, but whose numbers weren’t demonstrative of actual business results.
As inspiration, he sent us each one of these mugs (mine is now well worn):
Printed on the mug is a famous saying by Benjamin Franklin, “Well done is better than well said.”
For our team, the saying represented what we really wanted to accomplish: backing up our business results with a direct correlation from our contribution.
And we wanted that to be visible within the organization.
We wanted to do what we said we were going to do.
We were committed.
Commitment and Integrity
I read recently that the best self-care is not scheduling a massage or some other form of pampering or time for yourself.
It’s keeping your word to yourself.
That is self-care.
<mind explodes>
I had a good long think about the ‘why’ behind this...why keeping your word can be considered a form of self-care.
And I realized that that power - the care part of the self-care - is in the finishing of what you say you’re going to.
Think about it...that New Year’s resolution about going to the gym 4x a week...if you keep your word to yourself about that commitment, you wouldn’t have any drop-off in fulfilling a resolution. You wouldn’t be wondering ‘what happened to me going to the gym?’ come February.
You’d have the commitment. You’d have kept it.
Because you are very careful about the commitments you make, only making the ones you know you can keep.
It’s about being in integrity with yourself.
What about with your team? Or on your projects at work?
Usually, high performers don’t have difficulty keeping commitments to others - there’s a lot of power in that kind of accountability - accountability to other people.
It’s the commitments to ourselves that are usually the first to slide.
Like making time to improve leadership skills, taking time at work to create mental space and think...those are usually the first appointments we allow to be moved or broken, aren’t they?
Look, I’ve certainly got room for improvement in this department. I fall prey to committing because it sounds good at the time, only to find that once I have to go to the event or make the call or do the thing, all desire has left me.
Doesn’t mean I don’t do it...just that I let things get in the way too.
No more excuses
But what would change if you knew you absolutely, positively, without fail, no excuses, had to follow through on what you committed to, how would that change what you commit to?
I know for me it might mean I commit to a lot less.
But wouldn't that be better than committing and then not doing? Not following through?
I hear SO OFTEN from clients when we get near the end of a coaching session, defining action, or when outlining a plan, they will say, “I’m going to try this.”
Or “I’ll try to do that.”
Try.
What happens to our resolve (even subconsciously) when we add the word ‘try’ to a sentence in this context?
A lot.
Here’s an example:
Person A says: “I’m going to do this Wednesday.”
Person B says “I’m going to try to do this Wednesday.”
Which person do you think is actually going to do it?
I don’t know about you, but I’d bet on Person A.
The word ‘try’ really waters down a statement, and by watering down, I mean it creates an exit door.
An exit door that leads straight to an excuse.
And the excuse, right or wrong, keeps us from making that change, committing to that action. Building habits. Following through.
It keeps us from building our skills. Because we leave through the exit door, sometimes before we should.
The door we ourselves left open.
There is no try
And when a natural opportunity for one to bring Yoda into a professional leadership development blog presents itself, of course, take advantage, one must.
Yoda’s the one who said: Do or do not. There is no try.
(He’s got some other famous quotes great for leadership too here.)
That might be better than Benjamin Franklin’s quote.
So your takeaway here is to stop leaving exit doors for yourself. Commit. Or don’t.
No more ambiguity, in your language or your calendar.
There is no try.
Imagine the space it would clear. In your head and in your calendar.
Space that would open right up to work on the projects, initiatives, professional development goals with full attention. Full commitment.
Only commit to the ‘do.’ Which then becomes ‘well done.’
See what can happen.
What to read next:
Confidence at Work; Five Productive Things to Try When You Can’t Concentrate
Confidence at Work: The Top Ten (Actually, 11) Reasons to Use the Panda Planner
