Don’t falter on your word

There is one quality that is connected with any person’s career development that has to be attached the maximum importance. It is generally not talked about much but every employer seeks tit in his employees. It is integrity or honesty. These two words are generally seen to be plagued with a lack of flexibility and pragmatism. However, there are some very significant allied matters that warrant very serious consideration at all times.

In any organization, profit generating or otherwise, one issue that is frequently bartered is the belief or confidence in the power, reality, truth and goodness of a person. If a person does not trust others at workplace, it would be impossible to work with them. This is the rudimentary fact of work and workplace, for that matter even life. A word once given should not be taken back, because it actually amounts to not exerting enough to move forward in one's career. The environment invariably gathers negative impressions about individuals who do not keep their word. The affected person may however, carry a notion to justify such a shortfall, perceived lack of importance being accorded being one. But that is only a perception, with very little truth in it.

The fact is that trust, once bestowed to any person serves as a stepping stone for nurturing relationships, individual and workplace related. It needs to be understood that two things matter the most in life - trusting the other person for his credibility and reliability and being truthful. To illustrate the point, a person may have faltered and in the process earned a blot. Under such circumstances, it is always better to frankly admit own omissions and initiate corrective action before any serious fallout is felt. An act of integrity like this can offset the damage suffered to one's reputation.

In all workplace relationships, some errors are always permissible, particularly when situations arise because of promises not kept. Situations like these invariably surface out of the blue and therefore, a number of missed commitments bring about a plummeting of one's credibility and reliability ratings. Colleagues and subordinates alike expect that anybody who makes a commitment to have a work done should be able to manage affairs so that there is no let up. It is of no consequence whether it is being present at the correct place and time or meeting any deadline. The other person is presumptuous, and rightly so, that a commitment would have been made based on all factors, including one's acumen. Giving lame excuses or taking shelter behind ignorance may not work always, because the environment would want a correct and all-inclusive appreciation of facts and factors.

One can earn trust from others promptly even after the first meeting. And it takes another one to completely ruin a relationship. Rebuilding trust post-damage is a very slow process and calls for repeated credibility acts. It is also likely that trust once lost cannot be brought back to a normal state; some apprehensions in the mind of the other person will always persist. The degree of mistrust generated is contingent on the degree of seriousness of an act; it could be a complete destruction or a simply a crack.

Even if an inability to live up to one's word has had little or no impact, repeated omissions will lead to a complete destruction. It is something like bleeding to death by thousand small cuts.

Repeated failures of not being able to live up to one's words changes the thinking process of an organization. Additional tasks are not assigned simply because smaller assignments are not handled well.

In the light of the above, it is imperative that all assigned responsibilities are attached due importance and seriousness to their completion accorded. Should higher responsibilities not be assigned, the chances of career development will be grim. And this is a fact. There are quite a few people who talk big and make tall promises; but their end result is zero. Locomotives, as they are called - they are like plain locos and no motives - are fully aware that they will not be able to ensure completion of a job. Such people get pleasure blowing their own trumpet and talking nineteen to the dozen. It is best not to be in this category of people because sooner or later, they are bound to be passed over. An important aspect of the matter is that it is the action that speak more than the words; in a career, it is the tangible results achieved that matter rather than what one promises to do. And nobody ever wants to be associated with such people.

You cannot afford to be ignorant of the solemn realities of how trust is built or knocked down. If one feels that his or her career is plummeting, it is high time to introspect. It will not be out of place to begin with an assumption that one is as good or as efficient as one thinks to be. If there have been instances of failing to meet deadlines or not being punctual or simply not taking things to their logical conclusions, it is then an appropriate time to change one’s outlook. Remember that an individual who is as good as his or her words is always respected for his or her opinions and conduct.

Integrity can be construed as doing anything and everything what one undertakes or pledges to do. It is a harmonious combine of authentic seriousness, immense earnestness, conscientious conduct and highest commitment, even if one is not being watched or supervised. In short, one has to be honest in all his dealings to earn respect and do well in your life and career alike.