Having Commitment

Written by Jason Haines

“Individual commitment to a group effort- That is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” -Vince Lombardi

The thing about commitment is you must know what you are committed to do, before you can have commitment towards something. When I was a kid commitment wasn’t a word in my vocabulary, I basically did what my parents told me to do. I didn’t understand the real meaning of commitment, I thought I was “committing” by simply obeying my parents. This does not mean that commitment is obeying those in authority because they are in authority, our parents when we were kids were a little bit different, but we should not always follow those in authority. Just because people are with you or working for you does not mean they are committed to following you. There is a difference.

Over the years I have had good leaders and bad leaders, most of us have. Whether good or bad, these leaders usually started their leadership journey with a great future in mind. As Stephen Covey’s Seven Points said, “start with the end in mind,” and many leaders do that with great intentions. They have a commitment to treat their people with respect and dignity. Hoping they will be the best people who can guide their people in the right direction for the organization. So, what makes us want to have commitment to a leader?

How many times when you been at an organization, they hire a new manager who rolls out a long list of ideas that they are planning on implementing, or have been brought onto the organization to implement? I have seen this often; everyone gets excited and believes this is the change we need to become better. Then there is the old guard who will try to thwart the effort in any way possible because they don’t want anything to change. These are the people we must convince that the changes will be beneficial and make things better. These are the people who we need to get their commitment from, but many times I have seen organizations do this the completely wrong way. Through fear.

My last organization brought a new Vice President, someone not only new to the company but new to the position. ?This was the position my manager had wanted for years, and they did not make it easy on the new guy to accomplish what he needed to. Let’s just say he was part of the old guard at this organization. Let’s also say that the new Vice President didn’t enter the company on the best of premises, he wanted to implement a Lean Thinking organization, but was going about it the wrong way. His first misstep was to fire some of the older, more seasoned people in leadership positions and replace them with people who had no experience in the process. He introduced fear into the workplace, and once you introduce fear people start to do whatever they can just so they can keep their jobs. Most of the time this doesn’t work because many at the organization worked with those who were let go and were friends with them. They may undermine the new manager wants and make it look as if the new ideas won’t work out of fear and spite.

Why would workers do this? Anytime leaders come into a place and want to make changes, or because they were usually hired to make changes, they are committed to those changes working because it looks good for them. At times, they may walk in like a bull in a China shop and try to force feed their ideas without getting buy in from anyone who works for them. No relationships built. No trust gained. No reliability that if they help, they will be recognized. No commitment that they are committed to you and won’t get rid of you tomorrow. Only fear and rule of authority if you don’t commit to their plan.

Now my manager, though he was part of the old guard, started to have a lot of buy in after many discussions. This didn’t happen without fighting at the beginning, and a lot of phone calls that sounded like he wasn’t going to win no matter what he argued or agenda he tried to push through of his own. But the new Vice President didn’t fire him, instead worked with him. As a matter of fact, from what I saw and heard he tried mentoring him in a way of bringing him along for the future of the organization. This commitment wasn’t given to all the older people by the Vice President, but neither was the commitment given in return by those older people. Many of those people were let go through firings, which didn’t bode well for the Vice President. What could the Vice President have done better so that he could get the old people to buy in to his commitment?

When trying to employ a Lean Thinking change, we must find a way to get the people at the frontlines to buy in along with the existing leadership within the organization. How can we do this? One of those ways is to start by building relationships and trust through going to where the work is done. We must meet them where they are and start to show interest in what they are interested in. Learn their jobs, help them, and eliminate what they struggle with. As a leader take the responsibility to make the changes that need to be made and actually commit to listening without talking. Hear what people are saying and not talk over them. Show that you care and keep your commitment to make changes.

When we show that we are going to keep our commitments and get things changed that are problems we show them that we care. When we start to show people we care about them, they will start to commit to what we are trying to do. We are empowering people, which many leaders make a mistake in believing that telling people to do something to take care of a problem is empowering. Empowerment comes from us leaders showing people how things need to be done by getting out to where the work is done and doing the work. That does not mean taking the supervisor, production manager, or other leaders and placing their desks on the production floor. This is not respect for people as well, by disrespecting one person does not make another person’s job better. And if you want them to commit to what you are doing you lost it by disrespecting them through embarrassment.

As leaders we must find how to get commitment, and often that means we must go and show we are committed before we can get commitment from our people. Lean calls it going to the Gemba or going to where the work is done. As leaders it is important to go and get to know the people and the work. Yes, it is easy to fire people and replace them with your people, but it is more rewarding to keep the people you have and find a way to help them improve the jobs in front of them. Let’s get out there and get the work done that needs to be done and get to know the people.

Helping build future leaders and ambassadors while also getting people home to their families. Allowing employees to enjoy their life and their jobs. This is what Lean is about. Respect for people (Stakeholders) in all areas and in all ways. If you don’t know where to start give Industrial Solutions a call to start the conversation.

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