The Blog of vscampbell

Morning, guys! Welcome to Monday Morning Leadership here on July 21. This is Val. We're going through John Maxwell’s The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, and I'm sharing some of my snippets from it, as well as thoughts and reflections on the book and the chapters. Today, we're gonna look at chapter number three: Commitment.

He calls it the quality that "separates the doers from the dreamers." Stephen Gregg said, "People don’t follow uncommitted leaders." Commitment can be displayed in a full range of matters, to include the work hours that you choose to maintain, how you work to improve your abilities, or what you do for fellow workers at personal sacrifice. I think that’s well said.

"The world has never seen a great leader who lacked commitment." That almost goes without saying. Think about that one. Eddie Rickenbacker of the U.S. Air [Force] spoke of its importance. He said, "Commitment gives us new power. No matter what comes at us—sickness, poverty, disaster—we never turn our eye from the goal." That’s great.

So, let’s ask and answer the question: What’s commitment? You know, to each person, it means something different. I like the examples that he gives here. He says:

• To the boxer, it’s getting off the mat one more time than you’ve been knocked down.
• To the marathoner, it’s running another 10 miles when your strength is gone.
• To the soldier, it’s going over the hill, not knowing what’s waiting on the other side.
• To the missionary, it’s saying goodbye to your own comfort to make life better for others.
• And to the leader, it’s all that and more, because everyone you lead is depending on you.

So, if you want to be an effective leader, you have to be committed. True commitment inspires and attracts people, doesn’t it? You know, it shows them that you have conviction. They’re only going to believe in you if you believe in your cause, right?

And I like this—this is really key. This is the Law of the Buy-In: People buy into the leader, and then the vision. Okay, think about that one.

So, what’s the true nature of commitment? Let’s look at a few points here.

Number one: Commitment starts in the heart. Some people want everything to be perfect before they’re willing to commit themselves to anything. And let’s just be real—that’s not going to happen, okay? But commitment always precedes achievement. If you want to make a difference in other people’s lives as a leader, you’ve got to look into your heart to see if you’re really committed. Right? If you’re not committed, how can you expect anybody else to be?

Number two: Commitment is tested by action. It’s one thing to talk about commitment; it’s another to do something about it. And he said, "The only real measure of commitment is action." Right? Arthur Gordon acknowledged this. He says, "Nothing’s easier than saying words. Nothing is harder than living by them day after day." You know, the old accurate adage: Actions speak louder than words. I think that applies here. And so, I think he’s right on.

Here’s a question on this: How are you doing when it comes to following through on your commitments?

Number three: Commitment opens the door to achievement. You know, as a leader, he says you’re going to face plenty of obstacles—in office, opposition… if you don’t already. Right? I mean, that’s just life. We get that. And there are gonna be times when commitment is the only thing that carries you forward. So, if you want to get anywhere worthwhile, you’ve got to be committed. Okay?

So, let’s reflect on this a little bit. You know, when it comes to commitment, there’s really only four types of people. And I kind of like how he lays this out:

1. Cop-outs—people who have no goals and don’t commit. Okay, we probably know some of those.
2. Holdouts—people that don’t really know if they can reach the goals, so they’re afraid to commit. You know, I’ve been there and done that. I think maybe we all have.
3. Dropouts—people who start toward a goal but quit when the going gets tough. And unfortunately, probably done that too, right?
4. All-outs—people who set goals, commit to them, and pay the price to reach them. I think we want to aspire to be that one, don’t we?

So, question here: What kind of person are you? And have you been reaching your goals? Are you achieving all that you believe you can? I think we have more potential sometimes than we think we do. And deep down, people believe in you and follow you readily. Think about that one.

So, here’s a few ways to improve your commitment if it’s not quite where you want it to be—and we can always work on it, right?

1. Measure it. Sometimes, we think that we’re committed to something, yet our actions indicate otherwise. Right? Take a kind of inventory check: Where do you spend your time and your money? Etc.

2. Know what’s worth dying for. This is kind of a really tough one. One of the questions every leader must ask themselves is, What am I willing to die for? That’s kind of where the rubber meets the road here. If it came down to it, what in life would you not be able to stop doing, no matter what the consequences were? Probably want to give that one some deep thought.

3. Use the Edison Method. This one’s kind of funny, but if taking the first step toward commitment is a problem, try doing what Thomas Edison did. It says, basically, make your plans public. And you might be more committed to follow through with them. You know, tell your friends, your family, your workers, your mentor… whatever it is. You’re kind of committed when you do that.

So, thanks for joining me today, guys. Appreciate it. And I hope that this segment was helpful in having you think about and focus on commitment. You know, if you received some benefit from this, or something I said struck you in a positive way, please feel free to hit the Vote button. And as always, you are more than welcome to connect with me on social media at the links that I’ll provide.

Join me next week as we look at chapter number four on Communication. So, have an awesome Monday, and as always, be safe and take care!