If you deliver a better service than you promise, your customers are delighted. If you don’t live up to your own guarantees, you will be flooded by complaints.
This is what makes the model of under-promising and over-delivering so relevant for companies. Customers will be positively surprised that you exceeded your promises and this increases the likeliness of them coming back to you for their next order and spreading the word that you are a great company to deal with to their family, friends and colleagues.
But how does this apply to leaders?
Studies from political science have found that the biggest reason that people hold politicians in such low esteem is that candidates make so many promises when they run for office that they can never deliver on them while in office.
Anyone who wants to be a genuine leader must realize that they must maintain absolute integrity, rather than relying on empty rhetoric. It is easy to make promises, but it always requires effort to accomplish what needs to be done. Those who are truly effective as leaders under-promise and over-deliver, never creating unfulfilled expectations. Nothing demotivates anyone as much as raising hopes and expectations and failing to deliver.
Strong leadership always begins with both a commitment to absolute integrity. That is why every service academy (West Point and Annapolis immediately come to mind) place a premium on integrity in leaders development. How can anyone believe in any leader they do not fully trust?
