Management and Leadership Best Practice 3 – Demonstrating Commitment

“In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed.”

Brian Billick
Head coach of the Baltimore Ravens (1999 to 2007)
Led the Ravens to a 34–7 victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV

Buy-in, engagement, support… terms used to suggest commitment to a particular course of action, but are they really? What is true commitment?

By definition, commitment is an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; the state of being obligated or emotionally compelled. For the leader, commitment means so much more. True commitment is a deeply passionate drive where one dedicates all that they are, all that they possess, and all that they will be to the achievement of stated goal; making the individual’s commitment readily visible to all members of the organization.

So what are the observables of true commitment?

The leader who demonstrates commitment does so by:

• lending his or her political clout to sell and then advance the initiatives targeting achievement of the stated objective and eliminate those that would hinder progress
• providing financial support, including making cuts in areas the leader is less committed to in order to fund goal supporting activities
• assigning those personnel resources most capable of helping the organization realize its stated goal
• dedicating his or her time to the achievement of the stated goal, including the rescheduling of other less contributing events
• offering his or her personal time (nights, weekends, and holidays) to advance the initiatives supporting achievement of the desired objective
• behaving in a manner reflective of the long-term outcomes desired

When a leader demonstrates true commitment to a stated outcome, his or her followers will mirror that commitment; dedicating their energy, talent, and intellect to successfully completing objective supporting activities no matter how difficult they are. Leaders not demonstrating true commitment will fail to inspire followers; realizing a lackluster effort and subsequently placing the objective’s achievement in jeopardy.