Formula for Success: Under Promise and Over Deliver

By Bea Fields • May 21st, 2008

The quote “Formula for uccess: under promise and over deliver” by Tom Peters has never been so true as it is today. In this day and age where promises are broken both right and left, the people who live true to their promises will win in the end.

My husband, Mike and I were talking this past week about a few colleagues who we consider to be at the top of their game who have promised a few things and never delivered on them. We were talking about the amount of time we spent trying to get them to follow-up and follow-through, only to be a bit disappointed in the end. You see…the promise of payment, the promise of a task or the offer of a favor never came through. So, not only did we spend time trying to get the follow-through, we spent a lot of time worrying about why the promise fell through the cracks.

I have learned in life that you just don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you think there is any way on earth that you won’t be able to follow-through, you simply say “no”, and then if you can follow-through, the person is totally surprised and delighted! If you think you can get the report in on Monday, tell the client or colleague that it will come on Wednesday, and when it comes on Monday, the person will sing your praises to the masses.

I am someone who once did everything people asked me to do…so much so that I was exhausted. It was hard for me to say “no”, and with a bit of coaching, I learned to say “no” to just about every request. I still say “yes” to opportunities and volunteer work which are meaningful for me, but saying “no” is actually a huge favor to others. It frees both you and them up to move along.

If you are reading this post today, I would ask you to consider “What have you promised, and have you delivered on that promise?” If not, I encourage you to clean that up today.

Person Tom Peters

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Comments(1) Leadership

Comments

By The Small Biz. Guru

on May 26th, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Excellent!

This topic and trend is an area in business and general life that is being thrown out the window.

People’s word and drive to complete tasks for others used to be so important. Now, well, people do not really seem to care.

As I was growing up, I always heard stories about the telecommunications industry. Awful customer service, “sneaky” tactics, confusing bills, etc etc. I am in the field now and I can see why.

As a result, it is my personal mission as I work with my clients to give them someone they can trust, an “ally behind enemy lines.”

I have to defend my name and ensure it always stands for trust, honesty, and integrity. I give acceptable timelines that can be met and as a result, the clients are happy!

~the GURU