A Decision and a Commitment Aren’t the Same Thing

Man, is it important to understand the difference between a decision and a commitment. Leadership expert Fred Smith taught me about this on breakfastwithfred.com. He begins by saying that decisions are not commitments. One is short-term and the other is long-term. I could go off on this…very solid thoughts.

“People decide short-term to work for a specific emphasis; long-term commitment is aimed at the ultimate purpose. Both are necessary. People committed only to the long-term vision and not to specific tasks will not accomplish much. The short-term commitment produces the activity. But that must be judged by the overall vision. In evangelism, we see a lot of decisions. Billy Graham is right in talking at his crusades about decisions, not commitments. Decisions are often like New Year’s resolutions. The leader’s job is to move people from decision to commitment, says Smith.”

He says, “I’ve observed that this is one difference between the spoken word and the written word. Speakers are most effective at bringing people to decisions, but generally it takes reading to bring people to commitment.”