Keep Commitments

FranklinCovey Content Team

Say what you are going to do, then do what you say you're going to do. Make commitments carefully, including implicit commitments, and keep them at all costs.

Make keeping commitments the symbol of your honor. Don't break confidences. Don't attempt to "PR" your way out of a commitment you've broken.

Don't let 1-on-1s slip into the ineffective and monotonous territory of simple status reports and progress checks. Get 100+ questions to improve your 1-on-1s and use them to engage your people, uncover issues, and unleash potential.

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Enabling Greatness in People and Organizations Everywhere

Keep Commitments

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Does everyone know the team’s top two or three priorities (WIGs) and how they will align their efforts to achieve them?

Have you articulated an inspiring vision so your people choose to volunteer their best?

We’re not advocating goals that are easy to reach. Set a goal that challenges the team to rise to their highest level of performance but not beyond it.

Are the efforts of your team members moving your goals forward? How can you make it easier for them to do so?

Effective leaders create systems that make it easier to achieve results. When was the last time you did a “systems check”?

Are you and your team delivering activities instead of results? Are the results the right ones?

What’s preventing you from holding 1-on-1s with each of your team members?

How will you find the courage to keep your team focused on what is most important, including saying no to some of your own best ideas?

Do you see every interaction with team members as an opportunity to build confidence and develop potential?

When was the last time you gossiped or disparaged someone behind their back?

Do your wins come at the expense of others? Or do you allow others to win at your expense?

When was the last time you technically told the truth, but left a misleading impression?

Do you dedicate your time to the activities that will yield the most impactful results on the organization and your team’s mission?

Do you spend as much time celebrating the achievement of goals as you do setting them?

Our paradigms are perhaps the most powerful tools we have in how we interact with others.

How many people on your team are in the right role? Do you need to make adjustments?

If paparazzi had followed you last week, would they have seen a balance of activities at work and outside of work? What’s the impact?

Think of a person who had confidence in you and extended trust. Reflect on its ongoing impact. Will you have the same impact on your team members?

Are you damaging your credibility through too many unfulfilled commitments? Are you a serial over-committer?

Declaring our intent in conversations, especially in adversarial or high-stakes conversations, is crucial to creating mutual understanding, if not mutual agreement.