The Unwritten Terms for Commitment

Why employees commit or quietly check out may come down to leadership choices.

Julie Winkle Giulioni

When new employees are confidently brought into an organization, there remains unknowns and it’s important to know what those are and how to prevent or mitigate those risks and increase the likelihood of earning more of what is needed and wanted.

“… what that HR paperwork doesn’t and can’t spell out is how much someone will actually care. How hard they’ll really work. Whether they’ll bring their best thinking, their genuine effort, their full selves to the work,” wrote Julie Winkle Giulioni, a speaker, trainer and consult who helps leaders grow their people and the co-author of, “Help Them Grow or Watch Them Go: Career Conversations Organizations Need and Employees Want.”

“That’s governed by a different agreement entirely. One that was never written. Never signed. And rarely acknowledged,” Winkle Giulioni wrote.

“It’s the invisible contract.”

She points to why leaders would benefit from engaging in discussions about it.

“Organizations spend enormous energy on formal engagement programs, culture initiatives and recognition platforms — and those things matter — but they often miss the more fundamental question: are leaders actually honoring the unwritten terms that govern whether people choose to give their best?” Winkle Giulioni says.

“That’s what I’m exploring in my forthcoming book, ‘Checked Out’ and it’s what ‘The Invisible Contract’ is really pointing to,” she adds.

Winkle Giulioni developed four “Articles” for it and explains how she arrived at the concept and how the articles can be helpful to leaders, the work and the organization.

“The legal metaphor felt fun and right because it mirrors the language we use around formal employment — contracts, terms, conditions — but then turns it on its head.” Winkle Giulioni says.

“The real contract, the one that governs everything that matters, doesn’t live in HR. It lives in the day-to-day experience of feeling seen, trusted and connected to something meaningful.”

Noticing what isn’t working, being sufficiently curious about it to dig into it with perseverance and communicate about it are effort and commitment that can unearth what would be better.

“The four ‘Articles’ emerged from years of observing, studying and writing about what actually drives people to bring their best and what causes them to quietly check out,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“They’re not prescriptive rules; they’re a lens and they’re deceptively simple.”

It’s important, she suggests, to know what inspires people to do their best work.

“Article I is about meaning. People work hard when the goal matters to them, especially when they had a hand in shaping it,” Winkle Giulioni says. “Leaders who mandate goals get compliance. Leaders who co-create them get commitment.”

Humans are emotional in nature and that reality requires leadership understanding.

“Article II is about recognition, not formal programs but the consistent, specific, personal acknowledgment that says ‘you matter here,’” Winkle Giulioni says.”

Investing trust and autonomy in people is likely to produce strong results.

“Article III is about ownership… real ownership, not delegated tasks that get micromanaged back,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“When people truly own something, a task becomes a contribution.”

A truly collaborative culture with decision-making authority makes a positive difference in how people engage and invest themselves.

“Article IV is about shared leadership, creating the conditions where anyone on the team can step up when the moment calls for it because the formal leader made space for that to happen,” Winkle Giulioni says.

She stresses this isn’t difficult and can be implemented with greater awareness.

“What I’d want leaders to take from the four Articles is this: these aren’t complicated interventions. They’re daily choices. And the biggest risk isn’t dramatic failure — it’s quiet erosion,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“Leaders who cancel ‘the contract’ don’t usually do it with a grand gesture. They do it by assigning work and then reclaiming control, by recognizing effort only during performance review season, by setting goals without asking what people care about.

“The contract gets canceled in small moves. And it gets honored the same way.”

She offers simple, practical, moves leaders can make to honor the invisible contract.

“The answer is genuinely accessible, which is both encouraging and a little indicting, because it means the barrier isn’t resources, it’s attention,” Winkle Giulioni says.

She recommends being relationship-focused before issuing direction on the tasks.

“The single fastest way to honor Article II is to ask a genuine question before you give an assignment. Not ‘here’s what I need’ but ‘what are you working on that’s got your attention right now?’ or ‘what does this project mean to you?’

“It costs nothing and signals that the person in front of you matters more than the task at hand,” Winkle Giulioni says.

It’s also important, she asserts, to let your people learn the “why” behind the work and invite and value their input about the “what.”

“If you want the kind of effort the volunteer team I mentioned in my article brought to our audacious attendance goal, people need to feel that the goal is theirs,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“Even in situations where the destination is fixed, leaders can invite people into the question of how to get there.

“That’s not a loss or abdication of authority. That’s how you build commitment.”

She argues a point that may be controversial and offensive to some.

“Give real ownership and then stay out of the way,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“This one is harder than it sounds, especially under pressure, but leaders who delegate and then hover, redirect or reclaim control aren’t just losing efficiency, they’re quietly cancelling Article III. “

She provides a professional experience that made a positive impression on her.

“The most powerful thing I did with one of my volunteers was give her a high-stakes assignment and then trust her completely,” Winkle Giulioni says. “She delivered something I never would have thought of myself.”

Acknowledgement should not be thought of as optional or hard to earn.

“Find specific, surprising ways to say, ‘you matter,’” Winkle Giulioni advises. “Call out the particular contribution. Write the note. Send the voice memo.

“I even commissioned a silly AI-generated song that named each person’s individual contribution. People remembered it. It mattered. Recognition doesn’t require a budget. It requires intention and attention.”

If leaders want and expect their people to take greater responsibility and be proactive, it is helpful to “create space for others to lead,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“This is the one most leaders underestimate,” she adds.

“When your team hits a wall, your instinct is to step in with answers. Sometimes, the best leadership move is to resist that instinct and watch what and who emerges.”

Winkle Giulioni elaborates:

“Shared leadership isn’t a structure, it’s a culture,” she says. “And it can only develop when the person at the front of the room gets out of the way.”

The summarized takeaway:

“The through-line in all of this is that engagement isn’t a program you launch. It’s a relationship you tend to, one conversation and one choice at a time,” Winkle Giulioni says.

“Leaders are the single biggest variable in whether people bring their best or quietly save it for somewhere else.”

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