Commitment – A Simple but Powerful Tool

By Certified Action Coach Dave Beam

ActionCOACH has 14 points of culture.  These 14 words define who we are and our “rules of the game”.  Our very first point of culture is Commitment.  Here it is as defined by our founder, Brad Sugars:

Commitment

“I give myself and everything I commit to 100% until I succeed. I am committed to the Vision, Mission, Culture and success of ActionCOACH, its current and future team, and its clients at all times.“

We have a flip chart in our organization that goes with this point of culture – “The only failure is…the failure to participate.”  To get 100%, you have to give 100%.  Mistakes are not failures, but just a way to learn.  The only way to never make a mistake is not to participate – which is the same recipe for failure! 

Because I am committed, I don’t quit until the job is finished.  I don’t quit on myself, my clients, my fellow coaches, or my goals.  Commitment is a rare commodity these days.  Just check out employee turnover, bankruptcies, divorces, and basically any organization’s membership meeting attendance records!  So my question for you is this:  Are you 100% committed to your company, your employees, your customers, your relationships, and your goals?

I was recently working with a client who was having difficulty in keeping certain commitments.  Through some simple questions, I was able to uncover the “reason” why this was happening.  There are two things in life that matter, reasons and results, and reasons don’t count!  His reason for failing to follow through was that he didn’t always have a pen and paper with him to write down his commitments.  I asked him some simple questions.  “If you always had a paper and pen with you, would this solve your problem?”  He said it would.  He then began another story about how difficult it was for him to remember to take a pad and pen with him when he left his desk.  I asked him another simple question; “Do you wear underwear every day?”  After looking at me rather oddly, he said yes.  I asked him if he could ever remember a day within the last several years that he forgot to wear underwear to work, and he laughed and said of course not!  I asked him; “Why is it so easy to remember to wear underwear every day?”  He just said it was not an option to go without!  I told him it sounded like he was committed to wearing underwear each and every day to work!  I then asked him if he could commit to carrying a pen and notepad with him at all times, and he said yes.  I asked him if there was any good reason why he couldn’t always carry a pen and paper with him, and he said no.  And guess what?  His problem was solved by making a simple commitment.

 The point is that all of us have our “stories” about why we fail.  It’s time to drop the stories and just make a commitment. When you hold to commitment as a point of culture, it is simply unacceptable to quit and fail.  You’ve heard it before, and it really is that simple.  It’s a decision.  Commitment turns dreams into projects, and changes good ideas into tangible value.  It is a tool that is available to anyone who chooses to use it.