How To Blacken Your Reputation
We seem to have an epidemic in our society of people saying they will do things and then never following up. Twice in the last few months people have asked me to put together marketing information on one of our programs so they could get things moving in their company.
Something to note here: I did not approach these women. They approached me. They never followed up. They never acknowledged my email asking them what was happening. In short, they wasted several hours of my time.
So what does that do for their reputation? I now know that both of these women do not keep their word and that they are unreliable. I won’t work with either of them; neither will I recommend them to potential clients.
So, if you are one of those people who are always saying ‘yes’ to stuff and then never following up – stop immediately. Because every time you do this you are damaging your reputation.
The people who really stand out are the ones out there who do something when they say they will. So if you don’t have time to do something, then don’t offer.
3 Comments so far
Leave a reply
Hi Fiona, I can undedrstand your frustration with people wh don’t follow through on what they say they’ll do. I’m one of them, but have been trying to change my ways for years. At first I just wanted to help people out so I’d volunteer for so many things that I couldn’t meet everyone’s expectations. Some would get mad at me, some would never call me, but some of my colleagues and friends stuck by me. They saw other qualities I had that contributed to our team, that they could put up with. I’d like to apologize for all those procrastinators, like me, who have let you down. I mean well, but now I have stopped telling people I’ll have it done, yesterday, just be cause that’s what they want. I just cannot get it done by their timelines. Hope this helps. l. k.
I think a number of people have trouble with their promises because of stress. They may very well have good intentions, but those good intentions get swept away along with the cascade of 1400 neuro-chemicals that are released when the stress response is activated.
I did write an article about it if you’d like more information.
You’ve raised an important point, Fiona. That sometimes we have to say “no” to not only the bad stuff, but also to the good stuff.
Research consistently shows that successful people have clear priorities and they only do the stuff that matches their priorities. We have an epidemic of saying yes going on and it’s not healthy. There is something healthy about being selfish at times and setting clear boundaries for yourself.