So far in our Influence Skills series, we’ve discussed active listening, trustworthiness, likability, empowering others, and managing emotions. In our last installment, we will discuss why it’s important for leaders to demonstrate commitment and provide some practical tips for you to build your commitment skills.
What Does Giving and Getting Commitment Look Like?
Think about a colleague who is indecisive. Or who drops into your team meetings and projects from time to time but does not show up consistently. Or who, despite being part of the team, contributes very little to your projects except criticism. Or who gives up when the going gets tough. Or who fails to follow through when they promise to deliver something. How do you feel about this colleague? How likely is it that they will be able to influence you?
Successful leaders excel at making and honoring commitments. They show that they will do whatever it takes to see an idea through. They consistently invest their own resources, time, effort, and political and social capital to support the initiative. They follow through on promises, even small ones like getting their deliverables in on time. They quickly and directly confront challenges and conflicts that might arise over the course of creating and executing a strategy. Commitment, as a means to influence, begins with ourselves – how willing are we to show up and roll up our sleeves reliably and consistently, bringing all our assets to bear to meet the challenge?
Effective leaders also inspire and empower others to make and keep commitments. The Principle of Commitment and Consistency from persuasion science tells us that people tend to behave in ways that are consistent with what they have already done. One way to get people to commit to big steps is to first invite them to take much smaller actions. For example, before asking a potential partner to sign onto your initiative, first invite them to participate in a few meetings and ask them to take on small, easy-to-deliver assignments.
Getting commitment from others requires clarity of what that commitment will truly entail. When communicating an initiative’s benefits and requirements, we might be tempted to “oversell” the positive outcomes and brush under the rug the implications of signing on. It’s worth taking some time putting yourself into the shoes of the other person to anticipate what issues they may have to contend with to execute on the commitment and how they might manage those.
Using a co-creation process that allows others to weigh in on the formulation of the initiative clarifies the upsides and downsides of options, creates shared meaning and understanding of why you are doing what you are doing, and helps create buy-in.
Common Commitment Challenges:
- Dabbling in too many things
- Indecisiveness and inability to make a decision in a timely manner
- Lack of self-confidence
- Fear of conflict
- Not doing your fair share of the work
- Not backing up team decisions
- Hoarding your political and social capital and other resources that might be used to support the effort
- Forgetting to ask others to step up in small ways, before asking for big investments
- Taking on too much of the work instead of empowering the team to contribute
- Lack of focus, scattered attention, and being too busy
- Assuming others will agree with your decisions without inviting their feedback, perspectives, and different ideas
10 Practical Tips to Give and Get More Commitment:
- Make and keep commitments.
- Get your deliverables in on time.
- Do your fair share of work and more.
- Never offer “advice” or criticism before contributing to the cause in a meaningful way.
- Invest your own time, resources, social and political capital before asking others to invest theirs.
- Make small, relevant requests of others before asking them to take big actions.
- Where collaboration is needed, start with a “minimum viable product” of an idea and invite co-creation and debate before finalizing the idea.
- Always state the “why” behind your ideas and decisions – this transparency makes it easier for others to support you, even if they disagree.
- When asking people to commit to something, be crystal clear on what will be required, how that might impact them, and ways to manage the impact.
- When the going gets tough, double down in your investment and try your best to demonstrate optimism and hope.
This wraps up our influence series. If you would like to learn more, check out our free e-book here. And if you want help applying what you are learning here to your everyday work, book your free leadership coaching consultation here.
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