Just How Committed Are You?
Today is a day which has me exploring the nature of commitment. Wedding vows, childhood promises, new year’s resolutions, business goals, leadership visions — all of these hold an element of commitment within them. Why? Because in order to see these things to completion, in order to stay with these things until they bear fruit, you have to be committed. The question that arises, when it comes right down to it, is how committed are you? No, really. How committed are you prepared to be?
Being committed — truly committed — essentially requires you to make a promise like no other. For those of you who’ve read the Harry Potter series,let me draw a parallel between the energy of commitment and the energy of the Unbreakable Vow. Being truly committed to something inherently means that you will stay the course, you will face any and all obstacles, you will do whatever it takes, for however long it takes, in order to see the end result that you have declared yourself to be committed to.
When it comes to leadership, one of the things that I assert is that you have and hold a vision of some sort, some ideal that you’re committed to bringing alive in the world. As you entertain and play with this vision, as you speak it and encounter the reaction of others, the question for you to ask yourself is, how committed are you? How willing are you to go to the mat for what you hold as your vision? How willing are you to stay the course and lead people towards your vision, even in the face of whatever gets in your way?
You see, until and unless you are 100% committed — irrevocably, unwaveringly, and solidly committed — you can’t actually claim the leadership mantle. You can try it on, but at some point you’ll have to take it off and hand it to someone else. No matter what it is that you’re holding as you’re leadership vision, you must be willing to be 100% committed — not75%, 90% or even 99.9% committed — 100% committed in order to find the strength, resources and alliances to bring your vision to life.
Bottom-line: there will be times on your leadership journey when things get tough. At those times, it will be your commitment that carries you through. In light of this, nothing less than 100% commitment will suffice.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gail Barker. Gail Barker said: New from Stellar CC |: Just How Committed Are You? http://www.stellarcc.com/2010/05/13/just-how-committed-are-you/ [...]