This week a simple concept but an incredibly important one. I want to talk about the importance of following through on the commitments that you make. I just want you to think about your own behavior. I want you to think about how good you are at following through on the commitments that you make.

I believe when you say you are going to do something, that is effectively a promise, and it’s really important to follow through on your promises for a couple of reasons really. Number one is that you will not hold your team members to a higher standard than you hold yourself, so if you don’t do the things that you say you’re going to do when they don’t follow through, you are likely to let them off the hook, and the other thing is that you get more done.

You don’t have to always be ecstatic about doing the things that you say you’re going to do, but you do need to do them and if you can help your whole business step into that kind of mindset, imagine what you could achieve. So many businesses lack organization, they lack discipline, and therefore they don’t get stuff done, and because they don’t get the right things done at the right time, they have problems, and they’re always on the back foot, and they’re always putting fires out.

Get yourself on the front foot and become the fire prevention officer, not the firefighter. Yes, start raising your levels of awareness around when you make commitments, and make sure that you do what you need to do to organize yourself to follow through on those commitments and pay that forward to your team members. But first, you do need to get your own house in order, so if you’re a little bit lacks in this area, there’s something for you to focus on over the next couple of weeks.