Commitment vs. Contract: Which One Drives Your Team?

Today is my wedding anniversary. I always get confused about the date because we got married on October 7, 2006, and for some reason, I mix up the 7 and the 6.

I even ordered and printed our wedding photo album a few months after the wedding with the date “October 6, 2007” on the front cover. You’d think I would have caught it, considering that date hadn’t yet even arrived. It’s been a running joke in our family ever since.

Thank goodness my inability to remember the date has zero correlation with my level of commitment to the marriage.

Like most couples, we’ve had easy years and hard years, joy-filled seasons and heartbreaking ones. But one thing is clear for us: our marriage isn’t a contract, it’s a commitment.

A contract says, “If you do this, then I’ll do that.”

A commitment says, “Even when it’s hard, I’m still in.”

A contract is transactional and self-serving. But a commitment is relational and service-driven.

Workplaces Are Full of Contracts, but Short on Commitment

I realize work is much different from marriage, but we can still learn from some helpful comparisons.

We live in a “contract culture.”

Employees think: If the company pays me well and treats me right, I’ll give them my best.

Leaders think: If employees hit their targets, I’ll reward them.

Both sides determine their effort based on the other side’s actions. It’s no wonder trust and loyalty are eroding.

According to Gallup, half of U.S. employees are watching for or actively seeking a new job — the highest rate since 2015. And many of the recent swift, all-inclusive “return-to-office” mandates have only reinforced that transactional tone on the business side.

Yes, work is a contract. There are expectations, deliverables, and budgets, and those are important.

But when both sides treat the relationship only as a contract, the best parts of work get lost:

Trust.

Loyalty.

Genuine care.

Effort that goes beyond the job description.

Commitment Changes the Experience

The best teams — the ones where people genuinely enjoy working together and go the extra mile — operate on something deeper than obligation.

They’re built on commitment, not just compliance.

That doesn’t mean ignoring the formal agreement. It means choosing to show up wholeheartedly within it.

It looks like leaders who care about people as humans, not just headcount.

And it looks like employees who give their all, even when no one’s watching.

When both sides lean in with commitment, not just contract, the result is a workplace where people want to give their best — not because they have to, but because they choose to.

The Takeaway

Nineteen years of marriage have taught me that the real beauty isn't found in the major milestones — it’s in the daily decision to keep showing up. It’s choosing to treat the relationship as so much more than a checklist of expectations or obligations.

Work isn’t all that different.

Yes, it’s a contract on paper. But it’s so much more enjoyable and productive when both sides bring a little more commitment to the relationship.

Contracts keep us accountable. Commitment keeps us connected.

Here’s to showing up with a little more commitment — at work, at home, and everywhere in between.