The Department of Broken Promises.

I was recently sitting in on the interview of an employee candidate for a Supervisor Role within our company. I like to get to know and help choose Supervisors when possible because they are the life blood of our company. Supervisors work closely with employees, customers, and management so finding people who we think we can help excel here is pretty important. One of the things I found interesting was the candidate’s prior job history. Her job, simply put, was in the "Broken Promises" Department at a major auto credit company. It was here she would contact individuals who did not honor payment promises made. This got me to thinking how almost all companies could have a Department of Broken Promises. Whether it's falling short on customers’ expectations or an employee not following through on their commitment to show up to work, there are plenty of "broken promises" to go around in everyday life.  

This Department of Broken Promises really made me frame promises in a whole different way. How many times do we casually commit to things that we really don't plan on honoring? Whether it's not calling that person you promised to call or conveniently forgetting to show up to that volunteer event, we all have broken promises. We are humans and humans make mistakes but if you had a Department of Broken Promises in your life, what would they be and how can you strive to change this? It isn’t always easy but it’s important to be a person of your word. Don’t promise things you know you won’t do. Even little things like not returning a phone call as promised will erode trust over time.  

One of the most challenging things we can face as adults is how to accurately assess how much we can really do and then learn to divide our responsibilities to fit within that time. If you find yourself breaking promises too often, you probably need to say no more often and commit to following through on the things you do agree on. For example, if a neighbor asks you to pick up their son or a coworker asks you to handle a part of a large project due soon, don’t just automatically say yes. Think about whether or not you really have time and if you will be able to do what you agree to. Maybe your neighbor has helped you many times and you feel like you should do this. Fair enough, if you agree to it then you must follow through. If you cannot, just say no, your neighbor would much prefer knowing in advance so she can make other arrangements rather than scrambling when you cancel on her last minute. Same thing with the work project, if you think asking for your help is unreasonable or you simply are overwhelmed with other work, say so. Don’t agree to do something and then not follow through. People will remember broken promises far longer than a simple no.