Do you always hit your outcomes and deadlines? It’s hard to do, but the reality is, people judge your trustworthiness based upon the fact that they’re counting on you to do all of your job, on time, with the right result. Sometimes, life puts a barrier in the way, but it cannot happen too often. But those few times when it does, where you know of no possible way to overcome the situation, you need to renegotiate before you miss the outcome. That’s right, because if you talk about it afterwards and say, “Hey, we didn’t get this result,” now you’ve really disappointed some people and created a mess. And your integrity is viewed differently.
Alternatively, when you know you’re in trouble, speak up fast and early. Say, “Hey, guys. I promised to do this. This came up. I’m not an excuse person. I’m not going to give you excuses, but I need to go get this result. I’m letting you know that I might be missing this mark and I’m going to be a puppy dog with a sock in my mouth to go get that result, but I want you to be aware that I may need to renegotiate the time, because I don’t want to surprise you.”
Make sure that you’re letting people know that a situation is potentially at risk. The worst thing you want to do is surprise people by not hitting a deadline. Don’t be that guy. Be the person who alternatively is the human that can be counted on and, if you have a roadblock that’s insurmountable, that you’ve negotiated in advance, to keep your integrity.