Employee Engagement Takes Commitment

I started running over a year ago, the first mile was difficult to say the least. It was hard for me to breathe, my face turned all red and it seemed like my legs were made of lead as I could barely lift them off the road. I wanted to give up right away but I kept going because I had a goal in mind. I had signed myself up to run a marathon.

That was over a year ago, and now the marathon is just weeks away. I am running in the Marine Corp. Marathon on October 25Th. A year ago I could barely run a mile, but now I have many miles of running under my belt. A few weeks ago I ran 22 miles to feel what that would be like, it was incredible. At mile 20 I wanted to give up completely, my knee was hurting and my entire body seemed to be shutting down. I kept running, then all of a sudden the adrenaline kicked in about a mile down the road, my knee didn't hurt anymore and I felt as though I could have kept going...

As I reflect upon my journey training for the marathon, I believe you can make a correlation between marathon training and making the commitment to increase employee engagement in your organization. With employee engagement, just like training for the marathon you have to do the following:

1. Make the commitment
2. Understand your starting point, "what shape is your organization today?"
3. Create the plan and stick to it
4. Get support when you need it
5. Don't give up!

In the end, what I learned from marathon training was that the journey, the training, and everything leading up to the actual day was just as important as the marathon itself. Each day was progress, and each day was significant and memorable. So, whether you are thinking about training for a marathon or increasing the level of engagement in your organization keep in mind that making the commitment is the most important step and that each day is an opportunity.