<span class=”fusion-dropcap dropcap”>I</span>n 1980, I was 14 years old when Yoda uttered the famous words in <i>The Empire Strikes Back</i>: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda was right—the prize goes to the fighter who is in the right. Life will knock you down and kick you in the guts; that is a given. Whether you get up, is a choice.
How do you create an environment that enables you to make tough choices? The simple answer is through commitment.
What fuels commitment is passion, which drives us to rise early each day to follow our dreams. Those with passion do not measure the price of success. They understand that any great career is built with sacrifice.
Great managers understand what breeds success and work closely with their teams at all levels. They do the work and put in the time. If you have a passion for success, then you will willingly pay the price.
Passion is an internal drive. Employees with a high level of drive and passion do not compete with anyone. They do not care what the outside world thinks. This characteristic gets leaders out of bed, and commitment and discipline cause them to follow through.
A great manager will understand that one success leads to another and that all goals need to be attainable, realistic, achievable, and challenging. Their goals are set at the top 5% of their performance potential.
As a leader, you cannot simply be a director; you need to explain the why behind your decisions. A manager once explained to me that when he started his career, if his boss asked him to jump, he would ask, “How high?” Today’s managers are often asked “Why?” and “What’s in it for me?”
Teams want an opportunity to achieve mastery themselves and to be part of a successful team.
A marketing director once advised me that a leader needs to look beyond sales and consider everyday success, commitment, and incremental gains. Small daily improvements can create amazing results. We cannot always control who wins, but with this approach, we can strive to meet our teams best performance .
Great managers realize what is within their teams’ control. Certainly, effort, energy, passion, and commitment are within our circle of influence.
To paraphrase Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie, the French psychologist and pharmacist, every day and in every way, our teams are getting better and better.
