Keeping your word after the conversation is over

"I'll take care of it." Three words that can simplify a day or seriously complicate it. It depends on what comes after them, not how convincingly they were spoken.

For me, keeping your word is about predictability. If you say you are doing something, the other person starts to organize their actions around that promise. They may stop looking for an alternative and make commitments of their own. When you look, the effect doesn't just stay with you.

Of course there are changes. I do not believe promises should be treated like prison sentences, regardless of reality. You can estimate badly, become unable to deliver or discover a new problem. The difference is if you say ahead of time or wait to be asked, preferably several times, until the news becomes useless.

I take "I can't promise you that" more seriously than an enthusiastic agreement offered to end the discussion pleasantly. The clear refusal leaves me options. An unsupported promise consumes them and preserves for the other the comfort of having seemed available.

Character is not revealed by a job title, a position or a well-chosen photo. It can be seen in less spectacular things: how you accept a mistake, how you speak when it doesn't suit you and if the person can still count on what you said after you left the room.

I don't need solemn speeches about honor at every meeting. I prefer not to need the fourth reminder message.