If you’re in leadership, there is no avoiding the quagmire that results from broken commitments. I’ll get the easy part of this discussion out of the way first. As a leader, you must view every commitment you make as a sacred contract to perform and deliver. If you promise to return a call before the end of the day – do it. If you commit to a meeting – be there on time and be prepared. If you promise to complete a project – get it done. Every broken commitment chips away at the level of trust others have in you. If you don’t earn and maintain the trust of those you lead – you cannot effectively be their leader. It’s that simple.
The more difficult aspect of leadership is the ability to hold others accountable for the tasks, responsibilities and commitments they make. Quite frankly, holding others accountable is much of what leadership is all about. It’s when leaders fail to hold others accountable that compromise and trust issues surface. The longer the leader allows these issues to continue, the more they chip away at trust – for both the offender and the leader. Yes, a leader can lose the trust of employees by allowing others to fail to deliver on even the most basic of commitments. Continue reading ‘When broken commitments compromise trust’
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