What gets you out of bed for work in the morning? I bet you it's not compliance; who wants to be “compliant?” Commitment on the other hand might do it, but to what and why?
Well, for one, commitment bolsters individual and collective resiliency because you are dedicated to success; without resiliency, individuals weaken and organizations fail. Commitment in the professional sense and the process to develop it is a bit more complex though and requires a bit of unboxing. Sadly, some people may have not yet experienced the feeling of professional commitment or even realized it’s a thing, but commitment takes many forms. Perhaps commitment is to a leader, to an ideal, to your organization, to self; as a soldier, I’ve experienced all of these at once, particularly commitment to the ideal that is America, but what usually falters is the commitment to a leader. So, how will you ensure your leadership style is one worth committing to?
“Would you want to get shot at and blown up at a 75 percent discount?”
Commitment from team members is the sweet spot for leaders, where people want to work toward your goals and aren’t simply compliant or doing just enough to get by. Sometimes, there is the direct commitment to an individual leader, but I would argue that this is usually because of some history, maybe having served with this person before. In this context, maybe the leader had everything and everybody working on all cylinders, which made going to work a joy, or maybe they went out of their way to support you when you needed it. Engendering this sort of commitment can lead to powerful influence that leads to sudden organization composition changes when that leader makes their next career move, so be aware. If you are that leader, what could be some considerations here? If the organization you work for is your own or you are deeply committed to it, then you may want to set conditions to ensure that people are committed to the organization and not to you the individual to ensure greater organizational resiliency. On the other hand, if your commitment to the organization is such that you intend to move on, well maybe you want to ensure that you have a high-powered team that follows you to your next position.
I encountered this commitment dilemma in Afghanistan working with NATO Special Operations Force (SOF) partners. Living, working, and fighting alongside (and sometimes with) these SOF partners was an extreme challenge. The partner team knew they were being paid a fourth of what we were being paid to walk into the same gun fire and brave the same bombs. Would you want to get shot at and blown up at a 75 percent discount? Hell, I couldn’t blame them for their reluctance, but the mission had to go on. Since NATO had already signed them up for a bargain price, drawing any commitment out of our partners with an organizational angle was a non-starter. Our team had to focus on personal relationships, convincing our foreign brothers-in-arms that we were exactly that, brothers, and you always protect your brother in a fight. We also worked with their personalities to get their buy-in, these NATO SOF partners were the best their country had to offer, and their attitudes followed. So, we provided them the opportunity to display their ability in planning and execution, even if they only agreed to a supporting role every time. That was fine with me, they helped extend our operational reach in conjunction with our Afghan Special Police unit. Ultimately, our partners were committed to a successful campaign, even if they were a bit disgruntled with the organization.
“Creating a genuinely welcoming environment goes a long way… and my team relied on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to guide our approach to commitment with our partners.”
Without establishing resiliency through commitment, what would you have? Disorder, protest, stagnation? Any number of non-productive things really. If our NATO SOF partners weren’t committed, certainly there would have been mission failure, but also, as in other instances, maybe they try to walk off with some equipment at the end of the rotation or pack up shop and drive to the headquarters in another province without authorization…huge issues. Day-to-day business isn’t usually quite so high risk but lack of commitment could definitely lead to equally insidious conditions in your work space. Passive aggressive behavior, obstruction, lack of cooperation, these all exist to some extent in every work environment, so how do you neutralize these factors? Creating a genuinely welcoming environment goes a long way to encourage the opposite and my team relied on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to guide our approach to commitment with our partners. Answer the call for your team members regarding Physiological Needs, Safety Needs, The Need to Belong, Esteem Needs, and encouraging their Self-Actualization and your organization’s resilience and individual desire to grow within that organization will definitely be on the rise.
Along Maslow’s lines, one good way to generate commitment is to simply not run your team ragged and if you do, recognize them for their extra effort to touch on Physiological and Esteem Needs. Programming a sustainable schedule will ensure your team gets rest. What would you do with your free time, if you could forecast it better? I’d hang out with my daughter more and finally get around to skydiving again; predictability allows employees to pursue their passions. When I was in the 82nd Airborne Division, the Sun wouldn’t rise in the morning if a guy didn’t show up to work one day; everyone was driven hard. This would have been good if there were more incentive, but corporately it was lacking. The Army has a great system for recognizing soldiers with awards, but I often noted that outside of the standard post-deployment award, for the most part, guys didn’t see too many. I’ve learned to go out of my way to write an award, recognize someone in front of their peers, or to pay for lunch when people go out of their way to do great work. An organization isn’t just prestigious on its own merit, you need happy and committed people on the job to think and share their feelings on that prestige to back it up, so give them reason to.
Lots to juggle here, I know, but take a step back and evaluate, commitment doesn’t come easy, earn it. A leader’s ability to effectively engage team members on a personal level is key, it shows you care about them and the organization. When people know that everyone is collectively on the same page, they will show up to work, but when they know what their purpose is and you get them to buy into that ideal, they will excel and desire to achieve your goals. So, how do you want to spend your energy, expending it ensuring compliance, or building commitment for everyone’s collective energy to work toward your goal?