How good are you at fulfilling commitments you set for responding to people’s requests?

Our reader poll today asks: How good are you at fulfilling commitments you set for responding to people’s requests?

• I’m great: when I tell someone I’ll get back to them by a certain date, I never fail to do so 30.77%
• I’m good: every once in a while I fail to meet a self-imposed deadline 57.90%
• I’m okay: I generally meet self-imposed deadlines but miss a bunch of them too 8.51%
• I’m not good: I often fail to meet response deadlines I set 2.02%
• I’m bad at it: It’s rare that I meet a response deadline I set for myself and them 0.80%

Commitments matter. 89% of you report meeting self-imposed commitments for responding to people’s requests. Obviously this is great news especially because people on the receiving end of these commitments are planning their work according to what you tell them. It all comes down to communication. People understand if something comes up and a commitment needs to change, too. What’s important is letting them know as soon as possible when you know the commitment will shift so they can change their plans accordingly. For those who are challenged with fulfilling commitments, ask yourself if it’s because the deadlines you set are too aggressive or if it’s because you don’t hold yourself accountable. If it’s the deadline setting, start padding your commitments by 25% and see if that makes things more manageable. If it’s an accountability issue, impose consequences on yourself and focus on the negative impact your missed commitment might have on the other person. When we see how our actions affect others, we’re more likely to live up to those commitments.

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 240,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.