I am fascinated with leaders who understand the difference between gaining cooperation and gaining commitment. In much of business life cooperation works. As a leader you tell people what to do and they do it or suffer the consequences. This is an oversimplification to be sure. There are those who do this so smoothly that employees are willing to go along without resistance. And there are those who issue orders without much thought about the human beings at the other end of the orders.
There are times when the excellence of an organization is tied to the actions and attitudes of those who directly connect with customers. These brand bearing, image forming carriers of the corporate flag define the organization with each encounter. Add it all up and you have the intangible in performance. It is here you benefit from commitment, not just cooperation. The intangible is the natural energy released from someone working in a personally committed way. And the leader who understands this difference is the leader whose organization will realize the benefits of this intangible.
On Monday I watched one of these leaders in action for the second time. He was at the annual meeting of regional hotel managers from one of the major brands. And he participated all day long. This is so rare that the first time I observed this a couple months ago I wondered if it was a fluke. Not so. He was there from beginning to end and everyone in the room knew he was there. What does his presence have to do with leading for commitment? He wasn't just talking the talk, he was walking the walk. And in so doing he demonstrated the importance of the things being discussed and issued an invitation to those assembled to participate. This invitation wasn't issued in a newsletter, email blast or corporate video; it was issued by his presence.
Now I know he is opening hotels in Japan and Europe and that he has a thousand things to do. There will be events he can't attend. The important thing is that when he is there, he is completely there. And that is leadership for commitment.
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