“Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honour the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts……Such people will stand firm forever” Psalm 15:4,5b (NLT).
Reliability! The first time this scripture was read to me was in a leadership training seminar I attended during my undergraduate days. My eyes were really opened to the importance of making promises as a leader. It is easy to get so emotionally roused that you say a number of things and end up wishing you did not say them. I used to hear that it is important to keep your promises since childhood, but did not know how important it was until I encountered the scripture above.
I am going to deal with this issue on two fronts: Before and After making a promise is made. Reliability is so important because as a leader, the only collateral that the people have is the promise that you will lead them well. And your ability to keep the promise makes you reliable.
BEFORE A PROMISE IS MADE: As a leader, you really need to be careful in making promises. A lot of leaders, in a bid to win popularity with people make promises that are almost like building a castle in the air. Do not make a promise when you know you are not ready to keep them. Your reliability as a leader is tied to your ability to keep any promise made.
AFTER A PROMISE IS MADE: This is sometimes the very tricky aspect of this issue. You have made the promise, and you are willing to keep it. But somewhere along the line, the situation is no longer convenient for you to keep the promise. The average person will overlook the fact that he made a promise and move on. But that is not what a reliable leader should do. You have to do all that you can to make good your promise, even if it will hurt you so badly. That is what the Bible says. Nobody cares about why you did not keep a promise, the fact that you did not do as you promised is what matters. And for every promise you fail to keep, you gradually lose reliability and credibility as a leader. And if you continue, you will lose relevance.
I am not telling you this because it is ideal, but because it is realistic. However, it requires a conscious and deliberate effort and like some of the things I have talked about in this series, you will need God to help you to always.
Finally, the more reliable you become, the more God can commit bigger leadership responsibility to you.
“Leaders should be reliable without (necessarily) being predictable. They should be consistent without (necessarily) being anticipated” – Mike Krzyzewski.
NB: Words in parenthesis were not in the original quote but added for emphasis purposes.
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