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In this episode, Ilonka dives deep into a key aspect of leadership and business success: keeping promises. She explores why this simple yet powerful act is vital for building trust and maintaining credibility within a team and with clients.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trust Factor: Keeping promises is a cornerstone of trust in any business relationship. When promises are consistently broken, trust erodes, impacting the company’s credibility.

• Commitment Drift: Ilonka highlights a surprising statistic—only 50% of promises made are actually kept. This "commitment drift" leads to broken psychological contracts, where expectations aren’t met, and trust is compromised.

• Intentional Promises: The discussion emphasizes the importance of making fewer but more intentional promises. By focusing on what can realistically be delivered, leaders can build stronger, more reliable relationships.

• Setting Clear Expectations: Clear communication is key to avoiding misunderstandings. Ilonka advises leaders to be upfront about what they can commit to and to regularly check in with their teams to ensure alignment.

• Open Communication: For a culture of trust to thrive, leaders need to be approachable and actively listen to their team members. This fosters an environment where everyone feels heard and valued.

• Tracking Progress: Regular performance reviews and check-ins are essential for assessing progress and holding both leaders and team members accountable.

• The Impact of Decisions: Every decision a leader makes can affect the team's morale and livelihood, reinforcing the importance of making thoughtful, deliberate commitments.

Tune in to learn how making fewer, but better, promises can strengthen trust, improve accountability, and ultimately drive business success.

Listen now to gain insights on becoming a more effective and trustworthy leader!

Do you have a question on designing a business that can run smoothly with or without you?

Send me an email at ilonka@ilonkaras.com and I will answer it in the next episode.

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