Today is the day when whomever I tried to reach via phone or email, either was in meetings and presentations, or simply ignored my message. This drives me crazy. It shouldn’t, but it does.
I am sad to notice that many of us make simple commitments without thinking to follow-up. Especially when telling to somebody that you will call or email on a specific date/time. We take this very easy an we consider that it is only a call or an email, it is not that we break a contract or a financial arrangement!
In my book, when you promise to somebody that you will call or email him/her, you should mean it. It is a matter of consistency with yourself, it is a primary sign of respect to your own image and personal brand values. It should be what you take a stand for. I deeply believe that we should better say no and stick to it, instead of saying yes, but not meaning it.
I made a promise to myself today. No matter how busy I am, no matter how tired I could be, if I committed to somebody to do something for that person I will stick to the promise. It might happen that due to extraordinary circumstances I cannot respect the commitment; in this particularly instance, I will renegotiate the deadline with the person aiming to accommodate everybody’s position and need and wants. What I will do not is to say that I will do something and then simply ignore my word!
One man, one word!