Contrary to what many team leaders believe, team member commitment is not binary.
Team members aren’t “all in or out” as much as their commitment is relative. Understanding that commitment exists along a continuum is essential for creating more of it.
When leaders engage in behaviors that move people along the ladder of commitment, they elevate the team’s focus on execution and performance.
Before we discuss the leadership behaviors that increase commitment in tomorrow’s Field Note, it is important to identify what kind of commitment leaders are aiming for.
At its lowest level, commitment is really Compliance.
Team members perceive “they have to” execute a decision or task, but don’t really believe in it. Compliance produces half-hearted execution and often leads to surrender when obstacles get in the way.
One rung up the ladder is Acceptance.
When team members accept a decision or task, they recognize it is important even if they don’t agree with it. In the best cases, they come to this conclusion on their own, without the social pressure to comply.
Once they accept a decision or task, their willingness to execute it with precision goes up. Team members who freely “go along” with a decision have typically accepted it without a full concession.
What follows acceptance is Agreement.
Team members generally agree with a decision or task because it makes sense to them. They come to believe, often through healthy debate, that there are more advantages than disadvantages to embracing it.
Unfortunately, such agreement doesn’t necessarily mean they take any accountability for its execution.
Quite to the contrary.
Team members can agree with a decision or task without being devoted to or faithful to it. This is why leadership experts often claim that consensus is less important than commitment.
When team members take the next step up the commitment ladder, they become Responsible for the decision or task.
This level of commitment means they have taken ownership of the idea and have internalized this belief.
This ownership matters a great deal. A decision everyone agrees with, but no one feels responsible for, often fails.
Thankfully for leaders, the opposite is true. The likelihood of a team member executing a decision or task with enthusiasm increases the more they feel responsible for it.
Better yet, team members who take on ownership are more likely to share this weight with others and insist on quality execution.
Many leaders think the pinnacle of commitment is responsibility, but there is yet another step up. The highest level of commitment is Identification.
This higher level of commitment exists when team members come to believe the decision or task is connected to their values and self-identity.
When a team member is fully committed, they believe the decision or task reflects who they are and what they stand for.
For example, being a “team player” often produces a higher commitment simply because a team member wants to be viewed in that way by others.
Identities like “I finish what I start”, “leaders commit first”, “I wear the uniform with pride”, and “this decision reflects our vision” make commitment self-reinforcing.
People who reach the Identification level of commitment don’t ask if it is worth it. They ask, “Is this me?”
Of course, the goal is for leaders to attain the highest level of commitment they can from team members.
But it is important to recognize that a few people with deep ownership and identification matter more than many people with a surface level of acceptance or agreement.
A concentrated strength of high commitment outperforms an evenness of moderate devotion nearly every time.
