COMMITMENT

May

2023

Memorial Day Leadership

Memorial Day is a day in America on a superficial level that signifies the beginning of summer. People have cookouts, open their pools, and celebrate the beginning of this season. The reality is that this holiday is so much more.

Memorial Day originated as a day of remembrance for those who died in the Civil War. After the war, General John Logan, the leader of an organization for Union veterans, declared that “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.” This declaration was the first official recognition of Memorial Day.

As I think of this day and those that serve and have served our country three words come to mind that we can all apply in our leadership at work and home.

Courage

I can’t help but think of the courage of those who have fought in many wars so we may experience the freedom we have. For example, the freedom of speech that enables me to write this post would be impossible without the courage of many who fought for freedom during the Revolutionary War. Many men and women have dared to raise their hands and volunteer to fight for our country because of a greater cause.

As leaders, when we have a vision for a greater cause, we need courage. We will have battles to fight for our vision, which requires daily courage.

Sacrifice

Multiple people have sacrificed for the freedom we experience. Spouses have sacrificed by raising children alone or having many sleepless nights concerned about their beloved. Families have sacrificed through the challenge of wondering how their child is and if they will get a knock at the door. Individual service members have sacrificed their time, talents, and sometimes their lives for the cause they have fought for.

Leaders and those around them sacrifice as well. When a leader has a vision, it requires them to give up certain experiences to go up. Each leader has to determine what sacrifices they are willing to make to accomplish their goals.

Commitment

When a soldier begins his or her journey their commitment is tested. Training alone will test their mental and physical fortitude. Without passionate commitment, these soldiers do not last.

Leaders must have the ability to persevere through the obstacles to accomplish their vision. This comes from commitment.

As you look at these three areas, which do you need to grow in? Thank you to those of you who have served our country. I realize this does not honor you enough so please forgive me. Thank you for your courage, sacrifice, commitment, and leadership. Lead well.

Jan

2018

Getting Your Team to Work Hard . . . Together Part II

Commitment. This is an interesting word when it comes to leadership in our ever changing world. I can be quite committed to trying to understand how my new device works, but it seems there is an upgrade or new model just about the time I have figured it out.

A device is different than a team though. Some of the easiest teams to lead are those who are inexperienced. For example, if you have a young child and have coached their team as long as the kids know you care about them they will do whatever you say, even if you have no clue what you are doing. As an aside I would suggest this is only true until the children reach about 12 or 13 years old which is when they ignore you if they sense you don’t know what you are doing. This is commitment at the purest level and that commitment comes from a foundation of trust in you as the leader.

Last time I showed how part of John Maxwell’s suggested formula for success was to have a team committed to working hard together. Let me expand on that concept of commitment a little more from another expert.

Author Jeff Janssen in his book How to Build and Sustain a Championship Culture refers to commitment as a continuum. His book is written for sport coaches, but the principles apply in multiple settings. Go here to see his continuum. In brief it goes through phases like this:

Resistant – Reluctant – Existant – Compliant – Committed – Compelled and occasionally you have the Obsessed individual

This is a wide spectrum and as a leader you have probably experienced individuals on each part of the spectrum in any team you have led. Take a second to look at this and decide where you fall in relation to what you are leading because I would suggest the majority of those you lead will only be as committed as you are and those who are more committed than you may be leading your team instead of you soon.

Obviously as a leader one does not want resistant, reluctant, or necessarily existent individuals on their team, but committed and compelled members help the team rise to a higher level. The challenge of the obsessed member is they are committed to the cause at such a high level they tend to lose perspective and possibly effectiveness when working with the team.

Let me highlight some of the characteristics of the committed and compelled members that Janssen describes.

Committed – Willingly go the extra mile. Self-motivated. Take Initiative. Realize that challenges are a necessary part of becoming successful.

Compelled – No matter the obstacle these people will get it done. They will not rest until the job is done. They have high expectations of themselves and others. They want to accomplish something special. They are like magnets drawn to their goals and they draw others.

In our world that is constantly changing are you modeling commitment to the vision you are pursuing or is the vision a moving target? The methods to achieve the vision may change as well as some of the goals, but there should be a commitment to the plan to help develop commitment. Additionally, your commitment will bring clarity and increased levels of commitment from your team if they know you care about them.

So what about you? How are you at leading your team to be a hard-working and committed team? Where are you on the commitment continuum to the overall vision of the team? Where are your team members? When you look at the description of committed and compelled, do they describe you? Your team members? If not what needs to change? Only through commitment to growth do we become the leaders we have the potential to be.