Johannesburg - June 1976 was a historical month in South Africa. Schoolchildren protested against the use of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in schools. It is now October 2015 and history is being made again in South Africa.
This time the history makers are students from institutions of higher learning. These students are protesting against a hike in university fees for 2016 under the slogan #FeesMustFall with the bigger picture being the attainment of free education in their lifetime.
Why am I highlighting these protests?
My intention is not to rehash the coverage of this story in different media.
However, a closer look at the events and listening to the voice of the students, we hear them saying that the ANC, the governing party, has promised them free education as far back as the Freedom Charter.
This promise has been repeated on a number of occasions since the dawn of democracy in 1994. So the protest stems, in part, from a broken promise.
What are the effects of broken promises?
Let us move away from the protest and move into our personal spaces. We make and receive promises daily in our lives. Think of what happens when someone does not fulfil their promise to you. Chances are you get disappointed; you possibly get angry; maybe you stop trusting the person’s promises; or your relationship may even be destroyed. Simply put, the effects of a broken promise are negative.
Let’s bring this closer to home
What happens when you are the one who breaks promises? Not only does breaking promises affect the receiver negatively, it affects the giver as well. The difference is that the giver is affected more negatively. If you make a promise and you don’t keep it, those you disappoint may forgive you once, twice or even three times. You might even be fourth time lucky.
However, if you make it a habit not to keep your promises, what in effect you are doing is eroding your credibility on which your personal brand depends. Every time you break a promise, you break the trust people have in you. Your personal brand is built on how you are perceived. So building a reputation that you are not trustworthy is detrimental to your being and personal brand. Whether people believe in the notion that “trust is earned not given” or “trust is given not earned”, breaking promises is the quickest way to lose trust.
Can you redeem yourself?
When you have damaged your reputation you may have lost some of the people who believed in you forever. I however believe that you can redeem yourself. What you need is to humble yourself and admit that you were wrong. Then forgive yourself and commit to building a new reputation.
Avoid making promises you cannot deliver on, instead choose not to over-promise. Over time a new and positive reputation will emerge.
* Tumi Sibanda is a coach, author and speaker. Like her Facebook page www.facebook.com/coachingfordreams and follow her on Twitter @Tumie0we. Visit www.coachingfordreams.com for more information.
THE STAR