Am I Willing to Make This Commitment?

Great news! You’ve been asked to step up and take responsibility for a much bigger piece of business than you currently manage. Or maybe you’ve been asked to lead a major initiative for a non-profit whose mission is important to you.

But wait…

As you study the opportunity, you begin to wonder how much control you’ll have over the variables that will determine your success or failure.

Perhaps there are people, functions or partners that you’ll need to rely on, and your initiative is just one of many things that those people are working on. They may have other priorities or be less capable than you think.??

The fact is, one seldom has control over all the factors that will affect success.

Your first decision is whether you are willing to sign up to deliver an outcome that you may not be able to control. It is possible that the correct decision may be to decline the opportunity.

If you do decide to plunge ahead, you might benefit from these three tactics:

1. Create a plan for influencing the people and/or factors you can’t completely control. It may be that such influence, wielded wisely, will be enough.
2. Keep your stakeholders apprised of your progress. Make sure there are no surprises, so that others can plan accordingly.
3. Monitor the external, totally non-controllable factors that may influence your success (for example, competition, economic conditions, and weather events) and be ready to respond.?

It’s a perfectly logical human reaction to hesitate to accept accountability for a situation you can’t control. But the word “can’t” is subjective. Examine your assumptions and get the people around you to do the same. It may be that by changing them, you can create a completely different perspective on what is possible…and what you are capable of achieving.

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I help successful leaders and their teams agree on what needs to change and how to make it happen. I am the author of?Fearless?Growth and?The Agility Advantage.?

For more strategies, videos and free materials, please visit?www.setili.com. If you are curious, here are a few quick examples of the work we do. You might also enjoy my Fearless Growth Podcast.

Contact me anytime to discuss your situation and how I can support you.