I have come to believe that as leaders we need to make promises to ourselves and to those we lead. Earlier this year as I was working on a project, I thought to myself, “What are the promises I make as a leader?” I have always had ideals and ways of doing things, but I had never written them out as promises and made them official. I thought about this for quite some time and after a while I came up with this list of 64 promises that leaders should make.
I believe it is fairly encompassing; although probably not a complete list, nor is it in order of importance, per se. You might ask where “64” came from, that’s just where I ended. This list may not be perfectly suited to you, if not start your own list, and see where you end up.
I hope you enjoy this and it gives you a lot to think about. Here it goes:
- I promise to serve others.
- I promise to manage issues head-on.
- I promise to be a great teacher.
- I promise to hold effective meetings.
- I promise to find and create efficiencies.
- I promise to have and help others have an innovation mindset.
- I promise to be crystal clear about expectations.
- I promise to provide consistent coaching and feedback.
- I promise to never stop asking questions.
- I promise to build teamwork and leadership acumen among everyone under my stewardship.
- I promise to never stop learning.
- I promise to commit myself to excellence.
- I promise to be ethical and honest.
- I promise to inspire others.
- I promise to listen.
- I promise to acknowledge and celebrate successes.
- I promise to create some fun.
- I promise to be transparent and self-aware.
- I promise to own-up to my responsibilities and failures.
- I promise that I will make mistakes; but I will own up to them, and learn from them.
- I promise to lead by example.
- I promise to learn what really motivates the individuals under my stewardship.
- I promise to make culture, a priority.
- I promise to not offload responsibility
- I promise to delegate effectively.
- I promise to build trust.
- I promise to be authentic and vulnerable.
- I promise to plan for success.
- I promise to manage my time effectively and teach that skill to others.
- I promise to tell good stories to illustrate and inspire.
- I promise to really care for the people under my stewardship.
- I promise to defend the company’s values.
- I promise to always speak well of company leadership.
- I promise to anticipate problems and find solutions.
- I promise to find efficiency through better processes development.
- I promise to be organized.
- I promise to be detail oriented.
- I promise to communicate the company vision, goals, and key messages.
- I promise to be realistic about deliverables.
- I promise to support and push those under my stewardship to achieve more.
- I promise to manage the consequences of poor performance.
- I promise to be humble.
- I promise to not only lead, but also to follow.
- I promise to give credit to those that have done good things.
- I promise to simplify the complicated.
- I promise to be personable and approachable.
- I promise to say no when appropriate in order to not create burdens.
- I promise to say yes most of the time and then empower and lead my teams to create success.
- I promise to grow others.
- I promise to build cohesiveness among cross-functional teams.
- I promise to communicate, communicate, and communicate some more.
- I promise to be a change agent to displace inefficiencies.
- I promise to encourage creativity.
- I promise to be passionate about what we are doing.
- I promise to have a positive attitude.
- I promise to take everything in stride.
- I promise to try new things.
- I promise to reward results.
- I promise to create “structures” that create confidence.
- I promise to create career paths and opportunities for those under my stewardship.
- I promise to “take one for the team” if that is what it takes.
- I promise to get my hands dirty.
- I promise to be goal oriented.
- I promise to keep my promises.
Well there it is. What do you think? Is there anything that you would add? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
Great list Todd! Promises spoken and kept are the best culture builders of any organization.
I promise to be healthy and encourage the team to be healthy
This is very important, without proper health we can’t be productive, think creatively
64 – that reminds me on I Ching (see my post at: http://leadershipbyvirtue.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-ching.html) built of linear signs represented by 64 sets composed of two three-line arrangements, namely hexagrams (guà) that represent sixty four main kinds of life situations.
Awesome list Todd. Thank you for keeping promise No. 65: I promise to never stop sharing with others
Thanks Kimunya. I think you have 65 down as well
It is normal to have pain sorrow, and ups downs in the life. Similarly, having all these qualities might help someone to become god (those who believe in god). Therefore, striving for these will be great though very challenging.
Thanks for your thoughts Deepak!
This is quite a list. It looks too long until I look at it and see that everyone should internalize and live these promises even if they are not ‘the leader’. We are all leaders of one flavor or other.
Very true Jane. I am glad you like the list and thanks for stopping by.