By Julie Fuimano, Personal & Career Coach
www.nurturingyoursuccess.com
What does dependability mean to you? How does it
feel when someone does not return your call or e-mail? What happens
when someone tells you they’ll do something and they fail to deliver?
Can you depend upon yourself to deliver? In order
to be credible as a leader and become someone who people can depend
upon to get things done, take your word seriously. You teach others
how to treat you as a leader by how you treat yourself. Make a commitment
to honor your word, choose your words carefully, and learn how to
follow through on all of your promises.
Being Your Word vs. Keeping Your Word
Keeping your word is about what you do; being your word is more
about who you are or how you are being. It is the congruency of
who you are and your actions. Keeping your word means doing what
you say you’ll do. Both of these are extremely attractive, meaning
that leaders who possess these qualities are attractive to be around.
Being your word is rooted in integrity while keeping
your word in rooted in honesty and commitment. Keeping your word
requires conscious effort whereas being your word is your essence
– it’s who you are at your core and requires no effort. Keeping
your word will pave the way for being your word.
Honor Your Word
Make a commitment to yourself to do what you say you will do. Commitment
means persisting until completion. It means taking your word seriously
and committing to what you say.
Become more aware of what you say to yourself and
others through the course of the day. Learning to say less is the
precursor for honoring your word. It’s much easier to honor your
word when you’ve thought carefully about what you are promising!
By promising less, it’s more likely you’ll be able to deliver. Each
time you deliver what you say, you become more credible as a leader
and your word becomes more meaningful.
Whenever you use the word ‘should’, take notice.
If you ‘should’ do something, then either do it or stop saying it
and move on. Holding onto the thought by should-ing yourself takes
up “mind RAM” and adds stress by robbing you of energy that could
be used for something else.
If you are responsible to do something, call someone
or complete something, then do it. You’ll be glad when it’s over.
If there is something that stands in your way, move it or arrange
to have someone else do it. Don’t let anything or anyone deter you
from becoming a person of your word. Become a leader whom others
can depend upon. Dependability means you are credible and trustworthy
and that people can place confidence in you and what you say. It
takes time and practice to develop. Each day offers new opportunities
to stretch your dependability muscle.
If you truly cannot follow through on a commitment,
own it by letting the other person know. By taking your word more
seriously, you will find that you are more confident, your self-respect
increases, as does the respect you receive from others.
Do Not Try…Do
The words you choose make a difference in your believability. You
need to believe in yourself and in your word; this is not just about
how others feel about you.
To try is not to do. If you were to ask people
over for dinner and they said they would try to come, would you
cook? ‘Try’ is a non-committal word. It means that you haven’t yet
made a decision. So, make a decision.
What choices do you have? Which choice makes you
happier? Which choice are you willing to commit to?
If you’re not yet ready to choose, then say that.
Tell the truth. Say you’re not sure, that you haven’t made a decision,
set a timeframe for making a decision, and stick to your deadline.
Learn To Follow Through
Following through is the most important element of dependability.
It means making a commitment and finishing things once they are
begun. There is a glorious feeling one experiences when a project
is completed. Having unfinished projects is both stressful and energy
depleting.
There are several reasons why people don’t follow
through: procrastination, perfectionism, being overextended, being
unable to say no – to name a few. What stands in your way? Learning
to become more dependable as a leader means making your commitments
a priority and eliminating the barriers that impede success.
When you start something new, create a timeline
for completing it. Schedule these to-dos directly on your calendar.
Get things off your plate and on your schedule and delegate everything
possible. This will help you plan your time to get it done and prevent
it from slipping through the cracks. Before committing to something
new, make sure you are willing, able and want to do the necessary
work or have the required workforce or resources to complete the
task. If you don’t want to do it, if you already have too much on
your calendar, then say no. Learning to say no will increase your
self-esteem, give you more energy, allow you to complete your other
projects and free up time for more enjoyable things. Learning to
say no is not selfish; it’s a requirement for effective life management
and maximum enjoyment.
You might say that you cannot say no at work. However,
when you’ve marked your time to complete your current commitments
and you know that taking on something new will push the other projects
back or make it impossible for you to handle everything without
long overtime and weekend work (stressful and unacceptable), then
let your boss know this. Don’t assume s/he knows exactly what you
are working on and how much time you have available to spend on
something new. Explain that taking on the new project will mean
you will not be able to complete the current project in the required
timeframe. Then your boss can decide which project is the priority
and how s/he wants you to spend your work time.
Learning to ‘under promise’ is another tip for
increasing your dependability. It means promising less and saying
it will take longer, giving yourself room to deliver higher quality
and quicker service than anticipated. It’s delivering a project
under budget and before schedule every time. If you say the job
or task will take you five days and you can deliver it in four,
you feel a greater sense of accomplishment and are viewed by the
other person in a favorable light. Do this often enough and you
create a personal brand that screams dependability.
Coaching Challenge
Some action steps you can take immediately to build your dependability
muscle:
- Evaluate your current commitments and promises. Create a plan
to complete each project and schedule the tasks on your calendar.
Eliminate those commitments you are unable to keep and inform
the other people involved.
- Start being more particular about what commitments you make.
Learn to say ‘no’ when able.
- Promise less than you think you’ll be able to deliver and give
more than the person expects.
Credit:
Julie Fuimano, MBA, BSN, RN is a Personal & Career Coach. Her passion
is coaching clients to stop struggling and start enjoying their
lives, careers and finances. What’s the challenge in your life that
you’d like to change? For your free 20-minute coaching consultation,
visit Julie at www.nurturingyoursuccess.com,
write to her at Julie@nurturingyoursuccess.com
or call her directly at (484) 530-5024.
Related
Information:
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No! You are LATE again!
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endorsement by the National Business Association; the article is
for informational purposes for our members and viewers of our Web
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