“Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.”
Rocky Balboa
Anything worth doing is worth doing completely and requires you put your stake in the ground. Yet, we often hold back our commitment, waiting for reassurance and commitment from others first. Doing this is understandable but not helpful.
A Committed Company
Recently, I read the book, “Delivering Happiness,” by Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos. He and his leadership team put their stake firmly in the ground for their purpose of “Delivering WOW through service” for vendors, clients and employees. The book not only describes repeatedly how they made their purpose operational in their business, but about the losses, times they almost lost everything, and how financial success was not guaranteed.
The Heroic Journey
I bring this up because in my work helping organizations adopt a responsibility-based culture model (where everyone is taught and supported in managing their own relationships, productivity and motivation), they often run into situations in which they are similarly challenged. It’s reminds me of that scene in the movie, “A Few Good Men” where after months of inspiring Lt. Kaffee (Tom Cruise) to live up to his potential, Lt. Commander Joann Galloway (Demi Moore) says to him, “Danny, if you don’t think you can pull it off, don’t do it. You’ll lose everything.”
This is how I often feel with my clients. They are sometimes like people who climb Mount Everest, not sure they should try for the top, because they fear they may literally die. They come to see, while rewards are great, there are no guarantees that purpose and values will win the day financially. Daily, they must consider and choose commitments over and over again. What allows one to stay the course, go the distance, and surpass all odds, is focusing on what you want to create. The joy and passion for that vision is what allows you fully commit and win the day. Yes, you feel the joy of the heroic journey all while focusing on the good you are causing and those you are serving.
Real Life Scenario
Recently a company owner realized one of his employees was in what’s called active constructive misbehavior (when someone does something that looks constructive but is actually doing harm to relationships and profits). In this case, his employee consistently over-committed, over-worked, under-utilized his team and under-delivered to clients and co-workers. To a casual observer, it would not appear this burnt-out employee was misbehaving at all, but once recognized, he was handed responsibility to come up with a solution (which he did – to set healthy boundaries) but ultimately refused to put his stake in the ground to fulfill. Therefore he resigned, which was in my opinion, actually good for the company, but a tough consequence all the same.
We Need Committed People
We are all inspired when we see live and mythical heroes face obstacles and win the day and I see that a lot of this along with outstanding results, in my work. But regardless of whether or not you always make it all the way to the top of the mountain, our world is desperately in need of responsible, high integrity leaders. So my suggestion is this: In all things be awake, determine your options, feel them out fully, considering all positive and negative consequences, then make your choices, and put your stake firmly and fully in the ground for each, giving full effort. Then, no matter what happens, you will live a life you love because it is one designed from the most responsible, courageous and loving side of you. And as Goethe says, “When one commits, then Providence moves.” So go out and plant some stakes firmly in the ground. We need your courage and initiative.
This article is published in the column The Extraordinary Workplace in St. Louis Small Business Monthly, July, 2017
