Thank Goodness It's Monday #369

HOW TO GET THE RESPECT YOU EXPECT

Be known as the person who keeps promises. 

That’s one of the best ways to win the continued loyalty of customers as well as the continued best efforts and respect of coworkers, friends, family and the community at large.

“Duh!” you’re probably thinking. “Kind of self-evident. If that’s the promised payoff of the Get The Respect You Expect headline, I think you’ve broken a bit of the How To promise there, Geoff.”

Got your point. More to the point, pointing out the rewards of keeping promises also misses the point that promise keeping is often –

Robert Frost

(1874 – 1963)

About those promises …

The poem portrays a speaker who stops his sleigh in the

midst of a snowy woods only to be called from the inviting
gloom by the recollection of practical duties.

Written in 1922, Frost's most famous and most perfect lyric

(according to critic J. Mc Bride Dabbs) Stopping by Woods

on a Snowy Evening, conveys "the insistent whisper of death

at the heart of life."

Frost called the poem “my bid for remembrance” and observed

that it is the kind he'd like to print on one page

followed with "forty pages of footnotes."

Easier said than done.

In 1923 Robert Frost (1874 – 1963) articulated that difficulty factor quite poetically, closing his famous Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening with the lines: 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

If you sometimes (or worse, often) feel you have “miles to go” to keep your promises –

Perhaps you are making promises --

Too Big,

Too Quickly

Ouch! But just why are we so quick to make overly generous promises?

TGIM INSIGHT: Probably because it’s easy to do.

Promises seem like a quick and painless-at-the-moment way to motivate people; a no-cost-now way to get them to buy in now to what you think is in your best interest now. 

Eventually, however, the time comes when the buy-in equation must be balanced. And if it can’t be, or isn’t, that’s a broken promise. And that initial moment of motivation goes right out the door, taking a big chunk of the respect that the promise receiver once had with it. 

So –

No Promises = No Problem

Right?

Yeah, but … Making promises DOES motivate when you’re not able to deliver the goods directly. 

And, maybe because we’re so used to being disappointed in the promise equation, when you DO deliver on a promise made, it’s virtually assured to elevate you in the estimation of the promise recipient who initially acted in faith on your behalf.

So here – as promised – is a respect-retaining --

TGIM ACTION IDEA: There’s nothing wrong with making promises, provided you know – without a doubt – that you can deliver your part of any bargain you make.

And even with that “given,” be guided by a classic rule when you put the –

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Under-promise and over-deliver.

It’s classic advice for a reason. This way you’ll find not only do promises work their no-cost-now magic but, your stature will rise even higher when you deliver more than people anticipated.

And …

To ensure you keep on the respect-building track and don’t shoot from the lip, also observe these additional promising “What-To-Do” and “How-To-Do-It” precautions:

► Hold optimism in check. That way they’ll be less likely to unintentionally over-promise or mislead people. A good people-empowerer isn’t reluctant to talk to people about their future prospects, of course. But be realistic when you do. Don’t create false hopes and expectations by painting too rosy a picture.

► Weigh your words. A pound is not 15½ ounces. “Almost” only counts in horseshoes. Forcing people to settle for something less than they’ve been led to expect leaves a bad taste that never quite goes away. 

If you want continued cooperation, always settle in full, however inconvenient or painful you may find it. 

► Never forget. They won’t. Under everyday pressure it’s easy to promise something then forget all about it and assume they will too. 

Well, they won’t. More than likely, they’ll think about it constantly while they go about fulfilling their side of the deal. And, actually, this is what you want them to do if the promise has been made to motivate them. But, if you want to avoid repercussions, you’d better not stop thinking about it either.

So on that note –

Did I deliver on the promise of the headline?

Respect! (“Got to have it.”)

Geoff Steck   
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P. S. “It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.” Aeschylus (c. 525/524 BC – c. 456/455 BC) Greek soldier and playwright, often described as “the father of tragedy” said that.

P.P.S. Summer casual is a dress style, not an attitude. If fact, while others Laze Away their Summer Daze, you can build more skills that empower you on your way to amazing outcomes, here:

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