Episode 325 - Getting REAL About The Radical Promise PART 2 - with Steve Farber

What does it really mean to do what you say you will do?

In Part 2 of my conversation with longtime friend, mentor, and Extreme Leadership author Steve Farber, we continue exploring the ideas behind his newest book, The Radical Promise, co-authored with Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner.

Our conversation starts with love — something Steve has been talking about in the context of leadership and business for decades. Not love as sentiment or something "soft," but love made visible through action. Because, as Steve points out, without action behind the words, love isn't much more than a greeting card.

From there, we dig into credibility and the deceptively simple practice at the heart of The Radical Promise: Do What You Say You Will Do.

But what happens when we move from I to we?

For leaders, credibility isn't only about keeping personal promises. It's about modeling what we say we value as an organization. If the values on the wall aren't visible in the way leaders make decisions, allocate resources, communicate, and treat people, those values can actually undermine credibility rather than strengthen it.

We also explore the importance of knowing our own personal values, why alignment matters for engagement and commitment, and why organizations might benefit from asking a question that is surprisingly easy to overlook:

What's important to you?

And then the conversation gets wonderfully practical.

Steve and I both confess that The Radical Promise has made us notice the seemingly insignificant promises that fall out of our mouths: "I'll bring you that book." "I'll send you that." "I'll do that next time."

Do those count?

Maybe especially those.