How To Get Compliance, Not Commitment

Whilst facilitating a session with a group of new legal partners this week, I discussed the difference between compliance and commitment and the impact it can make on the results you achieve. 

What is Compliance?

It looks like: an empty office, a ghost town at 5:01 every day. People are slumped over desk wearing what I call their ‘screen saver face’. Just going through the motions.  It sounds like: ‘Sorry, that’s not my job’, ‘Friday? That’s just not possible’. It sounds like No, No, No.  It feels like: Hard work, demotivating, disheartening. 

What’s the result of compliance?

• Low trust 

• Positional power only for you as a leader with little real influence

• Low engagement and alignment 

• Acceptable results (at best!) 

• A need for micromanagement

• Stagnant workplace with little innovation

Now, let’s compare that to commitment. What is Commitment? 

It looks like: purposeful and focussed work, shoulders back, people smiling, eye contact in the office. It sounds like: ‘What else is possible?’, ‘How can I help?’ ‘How do we make that happen by Friday?’ It sounds like Yes, Yes, Yes. It feels like: Belonging to a tribe, purposeful, in flow, work is no longer work. 

What happens when you gain commitment?

• High trust and loyalty

• Real influence as a leader

• High engagement and alignment

• Personal accountability and leadership

• Great results with people doing their best work

• Speed and Agility 

• Exciting workplace with creativity and innovation 

How do you gain commitment from your people? What does it take? 

It takes strong cultural leadership which means you have to:

• Be authentic and show yourself - be vulnerable. No one is going to commit to a leader that they don’t fully know.

• Clearly define your purpose and your values and share them. Gain alignment from your people.  

• Create a vision of what is possible and get your people to imagine what it would feel like to be in that vision.

• Tell powerful stories. Pull people in and inspire them to take action.  

• Show empathy. Take the time to listen and understand. Discover what your people care about and find a way to connect that passion with their work. 

So, this week in your leadership role, I want you to slow down, observe your team and your organisation and answer these questions:  What do you see? What do you hear? What do you feel? Is it compliance or commitment? 

"There's always a way if you are committed."

-Tony Robbins

Have an awesome week!

Midja x