CCEOC Blog

What is Commitment?

“There's no abiding success without commitment.” – Tony Robbins

Last week I had a conversation with Ted Garnett, President of PS Culture Matter. I asked him to give me his recommendation for a blog topic. He quickly suggested, “What is commitment?” He went on to describe how people are frequently late for meetings, coming in 5, 7, or even 10 minutes after the designated start time. He can’t understand why people are constantly late, nor can I.

After we finished talking I started writing this blog entry. Then it occurred to me that I had already covered the subject of commitment in another edition, Are you Committed or Merely Involved? Nevertheless, the subject of commitment is worthy of further consideration. How you keep your commitments is a direct reflection on you. Don’t give me that bunk that everyone is doing it, i.e., falling short on keeping commitments. That keeps our thinking at a rather low level of achievement. It also makes a case for “monkey see, monkey do.” Unlike monkeys, we humans are gifted with the ability to be thoughtful and considerate of others – we should put it to use – often and with consistency.

Let’s look at some definitions of commitment that extend beyond what I presented in my earlier blog:

I like all of these definitions. Note the word promise. Did you make a promise and is it expressed or implied? What is your intention when you agreed to do something? Do you have any intention when you decide to do something or are you simply trying to look or act responsibly with nothing behind it? Is it an empty declaration? Notice the third definition – it is about attitude. When you don’t keep a commitment, could it reflect a bad attitude, or are you unwilling to do something, or support something or someone?

“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes...but no plans” – Peter Drucker

Commitment implies a lot of other powerful descriptors like:

• Character
• Intention
• Purpose
• Reliability
• Dependability
• Integrity
• Accountability
• Values
• Honesty

Vistage speaker Mike Scott defines accountability as follows, “Accountability is a two-way street, it means you and everyone else keep your word by doing what you said you would do, as you said you would do it, when you said you would do it – with no surprises.” Notice how Mike does not qualify his definition by saying these actions would only need to be applied in key relationships. In fact, I take his explanation to mean everything, no matter how big or small. That means coming to meetings on time, but there is a lot more to commitment than punctuality.

“A relationship requires a lot of work and commitment.” – Greta Scacchi

We have many relationships: significant other or life partner, family, co-workers, fellow worshippers and citizens to name a few. Not everyone deserves the red carpet treatment but what they do deserve is honesty and follow-through on your word. I realize that some people are tortured when they fail to keep a commitment and the only words of advice I have for when that happens is to make amends. When you know that you can’t do what you promised, consider communicating that information as soon as you know. Also, don’t give me the excuse that you don’t want to hurt the other person. The fact is you will hurt them infinitely more if you don’t show up when you were supposed to and you fail to communicate. At least you show some care and consideration by phoning first.

“Commitment is a big part of what I am and what I believe. How committed are you to winning? How committed are you to being a good friend? To being trustworthy? To being successful? How committed are you to being a good father, a good teammate, a good role model? There's that moment every morning when you look in the mirror: Are you committed, or are you not?” – LeBron James

Here is another interesting question: What are you committed to? Most people would say they are committed to their family, their work, their faith, their country, their friends, and probably their home team. A more important issue is your commitment to yourself. When you look in the mirror and no one else is around, who do you see? Are you proud of what you see? If you don’t like what you see, how about committing to a way of being that takes you to a whole new level of integrity or completeness? Why not resolve to be the person you were meant to be by being honest with yourself and with others in your life?

“Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi

If you are like me, you probably don’t like everyone you encounter, but there may be things you can do to improve the connection or the relationship. The point is, we are members of many different teams and we want those teams to be successful. In order for us to do our part to make that happen, we need to do what we can to make sure the team works well together, contribute to creating great shared experiences and commit to success. If we don’t care about any of this, then we need to re-evaluate our participation and role on the team.

“We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense.” – Barack Obama

We love our rights. Every day the newspapers or newscasts cover how individuals are exercising their rights. Almost never is the subject of responsibility raised. That would require a much deeper exploration of the featured individuals. You can buy the President’s words or not – I do. Unless we are committed to something more than our own narrow self-satisfactions, our country is in danger from within, not from without. What have we learned from those that preceded us about maintaining a commitment to excellence in everything we do – including exercising and respecting our rights by committing to responsibility?

And, there is more, there always is.

Be genuine.

Copyright 2014 © John J. Trakselis, Chicago CEO Coaching

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