Often times, leaders tell me a similar story:

“We’ve been having the exact same conversation about our strategy for months. Different words, same meeting. We all nod, we all agree something needs to change, and then… nothing. We just do it again next month.”

Months!

And the reality is, your team isn’t lazy. And they’re not incompetent.

But somewhere between the meeting and their desks, every decision evaporates.

Here’s what’s actually happening:

The Real Problem: Your Team Has Agreement, Not Commitment

Most leaders and teams confuse agreement with commitment.

Agreement sounds like: “Yes, that makes sense.” “I can see why we’d do that.” “Sure, I’m on board.”

Commitment sounds like: “I will personally own the vendor relationship piece by Friday.” “If I don’t deliver this, here’s what I’m asking you to do.” “I’m scared this will fail, but I’m all in.”

Agreement is intellectual. Commitment is real.

And here’s the thing – most leadership teams never actually ask for commitment. You assume because everyone nodded in the meeting, they’re committed.

They’re not.

They’re being polite. Or they genuinely agreed in the moment but had zero intention of changing their priorities. Or they’re waiting to see if you’re really committed before they stick their neck out.

I see this constantly in the organizations I work with. Leadership teams that have incredibly smart, mission-driven people who respect each other… and still can’t execute together.

Because nobody is saying what they’re really thinking: 

• “I don’t think I can actually do this”
• “I’m not convinced this is the right move” 
• “I have no idea how to prioritize this with everything else on my plate.”

One Thing You Can Try This Week

At your next leadership team meeting, after you’ve discussed whatever decision needs to be made, try this:

Before you move on, ask each person:

“On a scale of 1-10, how committed are you to making this happen? Not how much you agree with it abstractly – how committed are you to following through?”

Anything below an 8, you stop and ask: “What would it take to get you to an 8 or higher? What’s in the way?”

Do not – and I mean this – do not move forward until everyone is at an 8 or above, or until you’ve explicitly decided together that this isn’t the right priority.

This feels awkward the first time. I know.

But you know what’s more awkward? Having the same meeting for eight months.

This tiny exercise does something powerful: it forces your team to get honest about what they’re actually willing to do, not just what sounds good. And it gives you permission to surface the real obstacles before everyone leaves the room and quietly deprioritizes everything you just discussed.

But you don’t need a full program to start. Just one question at your next meeting.

Try it. See what happens when you stop assuming everyone’s committed just because they said “yes.”

I’d love to hear how it goes – reply and let me know what your team’s number is. (And if anyone admits to being below a 5, you’ve just unlocked the real conversation you needed to have.)

Bonus question – ask people: “How do we want to address this if no progress is made the next time we meet?”

Build in the accountability measure now – while everyone is still on board and before everything gets busy.  It’ll make it a whole lot easier to address it later on.

Cheers,
Chris

P.S. – If your leadership team keeps having the same conversations without execution, that’s not a strategy problem. It’s a team alignment problem. And it won’t fix itself. If you’re curious how entire leadership teams transform from stuck to unstoppable, learn more about the iMPACT Leadership Academy here.

P.P.S. – What did you think of this email? I’m trying a new series – Hit reply – I respond to every message personally.