Keeping Your Promises

Here’s what it says outside a ‘Pets At Home’ store nearby:

“We are committed to keeping you and our colleagues protected”, the sign reads, next to symbols depicting the importance of masks and social distancing.

After watching people come and go from the store for about 30 minutes: here’s what I saw:

• ~25% of the adults entering and exiting did not have masks on.
• ~75% of the children entering and exiting did not have masks on.
• 0% of everyone entering, exiting, or negotiating the store entrance made any effort to social distance.
• 100% of people saw no problems with (being close enough to each other to be) petting each other’s animals.
• 0% of the staff made any effort to enforce their rules.

If the sign outside read, “We will make no effort to protect you, enter at your own risk”, there’d be nothing to write about here.

Instead there was a promise of commitment, which was not fulfilled.

The strength of our brands is equal to the strength of the promises we keep.

Putting aside the carelessness of the survey participants, if we care about our work, those we serve, those we serve alongside, and the opportunity for us to serve them again tomorrow, remember the importance of keeping the promises you make.