If You Want Great Results, You Need to Be Committed

In the game of life, I have never known anyone
who achieved great success by simply being interested in
what they do. The road to success is littered with people
who are interested in achieving something, but it takes
more than interest, or even passion, it takes
commitment to be great at something.
This concept of interest vs. commitment is something I
share with my sons regularly. At their ages, 13 and 11,
this life lesson is easily illustrated through sports. My
oldest son has played nearly every sport imaginable and
has been interested in all of them. Guess whose time
and money have been spent on his interests?
Related: 7 Ways Leaders Can Achieve Big Wins
After many speeches about the difference between being
interested and being committed, he now
understands that I am not purchasing one more football,
basketball, baseball or lacrosse stick if I don’t see a
commitment to the sport. I now see him practicing a
little more than he was just six months ago! He is
starting to understand the difference and see the direct
correlation between his commitment to practice and the
newfound success in his athletic life.
This concept translates to all areas of life, especially
business. As a CEO it is my responsibility to set
expectations for our organization and show my
commitment to those expectations. I suspect there isn’t
a single employee at our organization who doubts my
daily commitment to the company or to my own
development and success. I expect the same from each
employee who joins our organization.
When evaluating employees, you need to see
commitment in their actions and not just hear a bunch of
words about how great they want to be and what they
want to accomplish. Talk doesn’t get the job done.
From a sales perspective, if you have a team of people
who are interested in being successful or hitting their
quota, trust that you will end up investing a lot of time
and money for little return. If you invest in developing
and helping committed individuals become great at their
craft, you’ll surely see a positive yield from that
investment.
Related: The Difference Between Successful and Very
Successful People
Everyone has tough days, and there will be days when
leaders in the organization will need to challenge
personnel to be committed. How do you accomplish
this? Find out what drives and motivates the team
members, either personally or professionally. Ask them
about their goals, what aspects of the job they like or
find challenging, where they want to be professionally
and even financially over a six to 18 month period.
Keep these conversations restricted to timeframes that
are realistic. Talking to people about five years down the
road is hard for them to get their head around, especially
for young people who are accustomed to instant
gratification. People want success now, and few are
willing to be patient. However, if you can find those who
are committed, you can help them build momentum and
ultimately achieve great things for themselves, for you,
and ultimately, for the organization.
Building a team or a company is no easy task, and if
you don’t currently have committed individuals on your
team, rethink your strategy and make the necessary
changes. It really is that simple. To have a great
organization or a great team, you need the buy-in and
commitment of those on the team. Moreover, you as the
leader must have an unwavering commitment to the
success of yourself and those on your team.
Good leadership is invaluable to one’s career trajectory.
Too often, people give half-hearted effort, leading to
mediocre results. Success in anything is rarely
accidental -- ask any successful individual and I bet
they would tell you there is no such thing as luck. Luck
is created, and it starts and stops with commitment, not
interest.
Commit to being successful or get ready to be passed
by those who are.