Page 197 - Fearless Leadership

184 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

The Difference between Promises and Authentic Commitment
• Casual promises. These are statements made with no intention
to act. For example, Ralph, a salesperson in a software company,
made lots of nice-sounding promises such as “Just tell me what
you need, and I’ll get it to you.” When people told him what
they needed, he smiled—but did nothing.
• Slippery promises. These are statements made with a built-in
escape hatch. For example, Nadia had no trouble at all commit-
ting. She just made sure she could back out of her commit-
ments quickly. When she failed to deliver, she simply
responded, “I’m sorry. I must have misunderstood what you
wanted.”
• Pie-in-the-sky promises. These are statements made with no
completion date or deadline. For example, Warren had no trou-
ble committing, but he conveniently left out the due date so he
had room to maneuver. His motto: “No deadline, no problem.
I’ll get to it if something more important doesn’t come along.”
• Authentic commitments. These are clear and explicit state-
ments with the intention to deliver regardless of circumstance.
For example, Barbara did not commit lightly. When she said,
“Yes,” she meant it. When asked to cut next year’s budget by 20
percent, she said, “I will.” No conditions, no escape hatch, no
unnecessary words.

Casual Promises
A casual promise is thrown off in the moment with no thought other than
to please or avoid. Considered to be social niceties, casual promises are
anything but nice, and they do not result in action. A casual promise is
easily identifiable: it is vague, there is no intention to act, and both par-
ties accept the pretense of this promise. Hedging language used in casual
promises includes

• “I’ll give it my best shot.”
• “I’ll try.”
• “It’s conceivable that I could have this done today.”