Broken promises diminish the value of your word. People want to count on you when you’ll say you do something. If you regularly drop the ball people will rely on you less. Your reputation becomes one of a partial contributor and you will not be offered opportunities. Broken promises decrease your ability to work for and with others. If you regularly break your promises people will not want to have you on projects, teams, and committees. And, if you’re not on one of those, you’re not working and will soon be out of that job. You may be out of any job that requires responsibility and contribution. Broken promises lessen our own self esteem. We don’t know why we don’t come through on our commitments sometime. Still, knowing that we’re not holding up our end of a deal whacks our own integrity.
Do you sit in a meeting and take action items then complete only some of them? Do you promise someone in your family that you will be at a game, dinner, or meeting and fail to show up on time? Do you say, “OK, I owe you that,” and inconsistently deliver? Do you miss deadlines? If you said yes to any of these questions, you are breaking promises. And the straight talk on this topic is: you need to stop breaking promises because it’s hurting your reputation and prospects for the future. Here are four ways to start building a reputation for reliability, delivery, and contribution:
