Staying True to Your Word – Are you Gold or Tarnished Metal?
“Promises are like crying babies in a theater, they should be carried out at once.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
A dear friend of mine is looking for a job. Recently, she has identified several opportunities at the company where my husband works. It just so happens that I have gotten friendly with one of the women who is pretty high up in the HR department there so, when my friend asked, I said I would be more than happy to put in a good word. There have been several opportunities, thus I’ve been called on more than once to reach out to this friend in the HR department on behalf of my other friend. The last time, I replied to an e-mail telling the job-seeking friend that I would reach out to the HR contact “…right away. I’ll get to it by the end of the day today.”
Five days later, the e-mail from me went out. Not my most shining moment of timeliness or friendliness I admit.
This lapse on my part got me reflecting on all the little tasks I do each day, and how I go about doing them. It got me reflecting on my time management, my skills at prioritizing, and my overall abilities to organize myself, get anything accomplished, and keep true to my word. And I found myself lacking.
Now, you may say to yourself, “Well, what harm can it do – you eventually got around to sending the message and, after all, it was only for a friend, not for a customer or colleague.” True enough, I suppose, but what bothered me about it was that I did NOT keep my word, technically speaking, because it took five days to do it. What if the position had already been filled and she would have gotten the job if I had been quicker?
- Categories:
- Business Management - Marketing/Sales
Blogger, author, consultant, coach and all around evangelist for the graphic arts industry, Kelly sold digital printing for 15 years so she understands the challenges, frustrations and pitfalls of building a successful sales practice. Her mission is to help printers of all sizes sell more stuff. Kelly's areas of focus include sales and marketing coaching, enabling clients to find engagement strategies that work for them and mentoring the next generation of sales superstars.
Kelly graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Political Science and, among other notable accomplishments, co-founded the Windy City Rollers, a professional women's roller derby league. She is also the mother of two sets of twins under the age of ten, so she fears nothing.
