Are you a “Chief Commitment Officer”?

You’ve probably seen a lot of books and commentary in the marketplace about leadership, but very little of it tends to be about entrepreneurial leadership and the role entrepreneurs play in leading their organizations.

You’re seen as a leader to the degree that you are willing to constantly be committing to acquiring and creating bigger and better capabilities and increased confidence.

When you commit to go into action to create new capabilities and new levels of confidence, it means taking a step into the unknown, which can be a bit scary. But in order to jump to the next level and achieve big breakthroughs, it’s necessary to make a big commitment.

This is why I see all entrepreneurs as the “Chief Commitment Officers” of their companies. This idea goes back to my concept of The 4 C’s Formula: Commitment, Courage, Capability, and Confidence. As the leader of your company, you are always the role model for practicing the 4 C’s—starting with commitment.

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Making your commitment visible.

What’s important as the Chief Commitment Officer is that everyone in your organization can see you make this commitment. Being the first to commit puts you in the lead. It then puts you in the spotlight with everyone on your team watching your courage.

This second stage of The 4 C’s, courage, means that in spite of the fact that you don’t yet have the capability and confidence, you’re going to move forward, and in doing so, you’re actually putting your existing level of confidence at risk. You’re saying, “I’m going to be the first person in, I’m going to be the leader here, but once I step into the unknown, I’d like you to follow me.”

It’s this willingness to go into a state of courage that demonstrates leadership, and it’s truly inspiring to be around someone who has committed to going through an uncomfortable state of courage to create a new capability.

Those first two stages, commitment and courage, set you up to actually create the new capability. You now have something solid underneath your feet, a capability you didn’t have before. And once this happens, there’s a big jump in your personal confidence. And if your whole team has gone through that process, there’s an enormous sense of team confidence, and your organization jumps to the next level.

Leadership means being the Chief Commitment Officer.

Being the Chief Commitment Officer is the number-one role of an entrepreneur in any company. You’re the one who has the picture of the future, and you’re the only one who can initiate an action that requires courage for the whole company.

It’s thrilling for anyone to work for an organization where the leadership is so clear-cut. Once your team has seen you make a big commitment, go into a state of courage that results in a new capability, and come through with a new level of confidence, they can start to go through the 4 C’s process themselves.

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