Surface Ripples

My Word is my Bond

In the “Old Days”, deals were sealed with a handshake.  If you didn’t do what you said you would do when you said you would do it and at the price you had agreed, you quickly earned a reputation of an unreliable business partner.

Fast forward to the modern era of contracts where now no business deal can be sealed without a contract equal in thickness to the Encyclopaedia Britannica or some other weighty volume. Although these days we have the advantage of “soft copies” on computers, they must nevertheless be validated and may often still be printed out.

Contracts aside, as business owners and leaders, we undertake to do certain things for others: our staff, our business partners, our friends and family.  Although these aren’t “written agreements”, and certainly can’t be enforced in a court of law, when we say that we’ll do something for someone, we’re undertaking something and building an expectation that we can be relied upon to do it.

Too often, however, the excuses start here: “It was a bad day for me!”, “I was busy.” (a favourite against which there is no real argument in theory), “We had an emergency.” (yes, these happen, but did we contact the other person to say it had happened and that we’d be delayed?) or “X, Y or Z got in the way). 

In the case of verbal undertakings, our word is still our bond and people judge us on whether we keep our promises or not.  There are certain individuals whom I have classified as “unreliable” and “easily distracted”.  In fact, in the latter case, I know that I can manipulate them simply by creating a “distraction” if I want them to forget that I’ve undertaken something for them!

Not to deliver on one’s undertakings is, in some people’s opinion, an egregious illustration of “moral bankruptcy”. Everyone understands that emergencies can and do arise, or that something may distract us, but we still need to remember that we’ve undertaken to do something for someone by a certain time and that, if we find ourselves unable to do it because of unforeseen and uncontrollable external circumstances that have suddenly risen, the least we can do is contact the other person to explain the situation and that we’ll get back on it.

If we find that people start to avoid us, not deal with us or not be prepared to provide references for us, this could be the reason.   For some, “once is enough”; others may be more patient but still after one or two more instances of failure to deliver, they’ll label that person as “unreliable”.

With all the alternatives out there, keeping our “word” is more important than ever.

I deliver change in markets ranging from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. 

Labels: Leadership, Productivity, Social

posted by William Martin @ 09:54