#3 – Commitment

Q: One of the biggest myths in team dynamics?
A: That everyone needs to agree before they can commit.

In reality, if your team is waiting for consensus before making a decision, you’ll spend more time going in circles than making progress.

The Five Behaviors^® defines commitment as:
“Clarity and buy-in around decisions, even when there’s disagreement.”

It’s about making clear decisions and moving forward together, not getting stuck trying to please everyone.

Here’s how commitment suffers in underperforming teams:

• People nod along in meetings but leave confused or disengaged
• Decisions get delayed or reversed
• Team members don’t feel ownership, so they don’t follow through
• There’s constant backtracking and blame when things go wrong

But here’s the twist: conflict (the good kind!) is what leads to true commitment.

When team members feel safe to challenge and debate ideas (with healthy and productive conflict), they’re far more likely to buy in even if their idea didn’t win. They’ve been heard. They’ve contributed. They understand the ‘why.’

One manager we supported said:
“We spent so long trying to avoid conflict that we never truly made decisions. Now we’re sharper, faster and more united even when we don’t all agree.”

If your team meetings end in vague next steps or lukewarm enthusiasm, it might be a sign your team is stuck in ‘polite’ mode and avoiding true commitment.

Want to find out how The Five Behaviors can help your team build clarity and confidence in decision-making? Let’s talk.

Next up: Accountability – and why it has nothing to do with micro-managing.

Launched on Thursday 25th September, on each Thursday at 1:00pm,, our good friend and colleague, Kevin Watson is hosting a series of five free, 45 minute webinars in which you’ll discover how The Five Behaviours™ drives performance, gaining practical tools and insights to build trust, embrace conflict, drive commitment, strengthen accountability, and stay focused on delivering team results.