We live in a world that overpromises and underdelivers. This cancerous downward trend is reinforced daily by advertisers, politicians, and vocalist auditions on the hit TV show American Idol. This constant separation between words and deeds produces the inevitable fruit of distrust and cynicism. Rather than expecting people to be truthful and honoring their word, we have been conditioned to shrug our shoulders and sigh, “Whatever.”
Living a life of integrity is not that difficult, at least conceptually. People trust others who live by their words, who practice what they preach. When I repeatedly do what I say I will do over a long period of time, my words and deeds align. They integrate. People then naturally trust me.
Jesus, the most fully integrated servant leader on record, put it this way: “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.” (John 13:17)
Let’s be counter-cultural. Let’s measure twice and cut once. Let’s underpromise and overdeliver. Let’s show the world what it means to “Do what we say we will do,” because our accountability is not to a popularity poll, but to the Living God, the Audience of One.
Lesson to aspiring leaders: Do What You Say You Will Do.
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