Strategic commitment is not just about getting employees to understand the strategy and agree that it is viable and rational - i.e., what we refer to as the "content issues" of the strategy. It's about winning employees' hearts and minds, which is directly related to their perceptions about their leaders. We refer to these perceptions as the context issues. Any strategy will either be propelled or undercut depending on four fundamental context issues. These are perceptions about leaders':

1. Credibility and sincerity about what is happening in the organization and what will happen next.

2. Courage to hear the truth and make the hard decisions that are required for the strategy to work.

3. Competence in directing the initiative at hand.

4. Care and concern about the impact of the initiative on employees.