Commitment: All or Nothing

Abstract

People tend to talk about commitment in fractions, as though we can be partially committed to something. But the purpose of making a commitment is to let someone know that he or she can rely upon us to act a certain way.

A good example is a surgeon. We expect that, say, a heart surgeon is committed to prolonging and saving lives whenever possible. We wouldn’t want him to be wishy-washy about this as a loved one is being wheeled into the emergency room.

In our organizations, which make financial survival and growth possible, we don’t want a new hire to be anything less than fully committed either. We expect him to do the best job possible for us. In return, we promise him a steady paycheck, benefits and professional support, and he wouldn’t want us to be any less than committed to our end of the bargain.

Keywords: commitment, distinction, communication, language, workability