EB122 - Task Faithfulness © Question:
One of my biggest frustrations is managers who regularly fail to complete a report or project
on time. What’s the character trait that makes some people so reliable while others
almost never get it right?
Larry: The short answer to your question is task faithfulness. The people that consistently do what’s required have an inner quality of personal responsibility. People who are task faithful can be depended upon. They are dutiful, constant, dedicated to their responsibilities, and unwavering in the fulfillment of their word.
Being faithful is so fundamental to a person’s stewardship of authority and processes, that when it is not proven, it is certain to create unwanted surprises. Every manager will face crunch times when the commitments he or she has made are tested by the shortage of time, money and energy. It is when we are faced with these challenges that we discover the importance of task faithfulness. When I think back through all the instances where I struggled to make a deadline and succeeded, it was always faithful people who made the difference, not money or resources.
Many managers facing failure discover that they had focused their energies only on those parts of their responsibility that they most enjoyed. They had either ignored other essential areas or delegated them to people they later discovered to be unfaithful. The truth is that we always find the ways and means to do things that are important to us.
Larry: The short answer to your question is task faithfulness. The people that consistently do what’s required have an inner quality of personal responsibility. People who are task faithful can be depended upon. They are dutiful, constant, dedicated to their responsibilities, and unwavering in the fulfillment of their word.
Being faithful is so fundamental to a person’s stewardship of authority and processes, that when it is not proven, it is certain to create unwanted surprises. Every manager will face crunch times when the commitments he or she has made are tested by the shortage of time, money and energy. It is when we are faced with these challenges that we discover the importance of task faithfulness. When I think back through all the instances where I struggled to make a deadline and succeeded, it was always faithful people who made the difference, not money or resources.
Many managers facing failure discover that they had focused their energies only on those parts of their responsibility that they most enjoyed. They had either ignored other essential areas or delegated them to people they later discovered to be unfaithful. The truth is that we always find the ways and means to do things that are important to us.
