Your promises are sacred: If nakedness says it would give you a cloth, listen to its name,” – African proverb

By Kodwo BRUMPON

Every morning, since the beginning of time, the sun comes up at the same time. How long has it been since the beginning of time? We can only estimate, but it has been very long. But we know for sure is that the sun never fails in its duty. It is up every single morning and down every single evening.

Can you imagine what it would be like if you woke up one morning and the sun did not rise? Half of the earth’s organism would probably be extinct by mid-day.

I witnessed a famine once, but I was a kid, and I never stopped wondering what caused it. I understood why years later. In the year before the famine, the rains did not come when it was due, and when it came it was less than expected. The crops failed and the harvest was bad. Consequently, there was less food.

In most developing economies where mechanized farming is a novelty, farming is dependent on nature. The farmers have a pact with nature. They rest their hope on nature behaving normal. Any abnormality brings about woes.

What am I driving at? Humans as we are, we always have expectations. We develop our plans and aspirations on the anticipation of other factors being present. Expectations are powerful motivators that can either make you strong or make you weak.

Take a situation where a plan was formulated around a set of variables, and these became unavailable due to circumstances beyond your control. It will throw the whole plan into disarray. You will be very disappointed and if care is not taken, frustrations can set in.

Our beliefs about future events take centre stage in decision making. These beliefs are about anything and everything, but in human interactions it borders on promises and commitments. In a nutshell, we elicit expectations because that is how and what we build our hopes upon. Expectations are of great essence to the survival of humanity.

We all have expectations, but that is not as important as the promises and commitments we make to others who then develop their plans around our commitments. That is the part you are in control of. Let us start by making it clear that when you fail to honor a commitment, you throw an environment into disequilibrium.

This reminds us that a lot is going to be expected of us. You a source of light and inspiration to others. Every time you make a promise or a commitment, people will plan their actions and reacts on your words. Analyze this; if you schedule a meeting with me for 1600 hours to 1800 hours, in turn, I schedule that period for you and reject anybody who wants to meet me between those hours.

The best I can do is to let them know I will be available after 1800 hours. Now if you fulfill your appointment, we are both happy. On the other hand, if you fail to show up, there is disequilibrium. Maybe you will not lose anything, but I will and it would be difficult for me to trust your commitments the next time round.

It is very easy to fall into a groove of character, but it is extreme difficult for you to climb out of. Rather than creating a character that fails to fulfill commitments, make an effort to create one that resonates with always fulfilling your commitments. Each time you keep our word, each time you do what you said you were going to, you are building for the future. Keeping commitments demonstrates trustworthiness.

It tells those around you about your fruitfulness. And please do not forget that integrity, honor, self-respect and honesty are the fruits of those who keep their commitments. It might sound trivial, but it means a lot to people. It means you are walking your talk. This builds trust and loyalty in relationships.

Once you make a commitment, a promise, you must keep your word, keep it every time you can, especially when it is easy to do so. This is because, there will be enough times when it will be very hard due to contingencies. But if people know that you keep to the code most of the time, during such times they can overlook your disappointment.

You cannot just afford to renegade on your word, promise or commitment. That is most people out there do. If you also do that, then what is the difference between you and those still cloaked in their ignorance? The difference must be crystal clear, walk your walk, but more importantly walk your talk.

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Kodwo Brumpon is an executive coach at Polygon Oval, a forward-thinking Pan African management consultancy and social impact firm driven by data analytics, with a focus on understanding the extraordinary potential and needs of organisations and businesses to help them cultivate synergies, that catapults into their strategic growth, and certifies their sustainability.

Comments, suggestions, and requests for talks and training should be sent to him at [email protected] 

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