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Dear Leaders, welcome to Q4 and all the fun it brings!
Recently we have learnt the lesson that life is often too short.
Something that is often questioned in upper management is people’s commitment.
Is our team fully committed?
Are they on the bus?
Do they bleed the company colours?
For years I was a BIG believer in this, I was a big advocate of: are you in or are you out?
Until a few years ago when I had to really consider what it meant to be in the middle, not fully in or fully out.
And you know what, it was and is ok.
My Experience:
On one occasion, in an away long-range planning session, I was called out “for being on the fence”, a set of the leadership team were not convinced I was fully committed.
Why?
I was fully committed to doing my job and getting the best results for the business, however, I had pushed myself to the brink, I pushed my colleagues to step forward to take on important projects and I knew we were up against a challenging period and I knew deep down I was not going to be able to give my usual 110%.
I was however aware at that business I was not progressing at the same velocity I had for a few years before, the company openly couldn’t match my ambition and importantly, I was not 100% brought into the lack of vision and I would often question a number of decisions we as the leadership team were making.
I was often pushing for different (in mind much smarter) outcomes vs wanting to just “disagree and commit” as the others did.
What this made me realise was this and something I teach in my coaching sessions:
Commitment is a two-way street - you and the company have to show you are both committed
You can be a professional and disagree with decisions but still get your job done right and keep pushing and developing those around you
Some companies will never match your own ambitions - this is for you to work out or work through — or leave
Being all in or all out is more poker than real working life, having the right beliefs and making the right sets of bets is best for the company
Companies evolve, as do professionals, sometimes you drift apart - this does not mean you do not want the best for the company
Vision is a big part of leadership, if some struggle with vision or sharing a long term vision, then that’s a personal discussion to have or a point to discuss as a management team
It is then natural for people to assume you are interviewing, hearing about other roles and taking other opportunities when you take a step back from being in every conversation or taking on more projects others who know you will notice - you must deal with this and a challenge coming
There are risks and benefits to being in a company for a prolonged period of time - on many occasions salary is just not going to be enough for your sanity
It is ok to know there is more out there and for you to pursue opportunities - as an individual you have to decide if you discuss this with your line manager or CEO, be wary this will 99% of the time play against you.
Unfortunately, my commitment being questioned did ultimately help me decide to leave for another opportunity that was right for me and my future.
However, when someone is on the fence in your business, it doesn’t mean they are working against what you want, or what your business needs to achieve, it can mean they are opening up potentials for them and the business.
This week I recommend you think about your own situation, you consider how you and the company might be pushing people to consider their options and lastly, ponder how you could actually benefit from different discussions and reconsidering leading with paranoia when your colleagues are considering their next steps, it could be the best for the company and enable you to bring in someone else to refresh the management team.
Have a great week.
Danny Denhard
PS if you and the business are always doing strategy and AOP the same way, you have to read this strategy article.
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