Delivering on commitments: What happens when you can’t?

As most of you will have noticed, I left the last newsletter unfinished on the matter of commitments and promised to come back to the topic for this newsletter. 

Last time, I reflected on the value to me of being aware and fully conscious of my own commitments, and the value of being able to rely on others because I know they have committed to do something and that they will do it. I also mentioned the enormous value I see in the ability for anyone about to make a commitment to truly believe that an answer of "no" is available to them.

Some of you shared interesting comments on these points – many thanks! One could also draw a link between:

• The importance of a leader ensuring that their team members know they are genuinely allowed to say "no".

• The ability of someone in any team to say "no"; some people are very good at this, and others much less so – and this can have a negative effect on one's mental and physical health.

• And the link to self-care which was the subject of the December newsletter.

In this second part, I would like to explore what happens when our commitments come under pressure. What do we do when we realise we can’t deliver on something we have promised? How do we manage competing priorities, shifting assumptions, or even changes in direction? And most importantly, how can we handle these moments without compromising trust or integrity? In the reflections that follow, I’ll share some of the ways I have learned to approach these situations – both the mindset I try to adopt and the actions I have found most effective.

Why commitments fail

There is nothing worse, in my view – whether I am the one who made the commitment or the one relying on it – than realising, with a day to go, that a commitment made two months ago cannot be met.

What happens then if I realise that I am not going to be able to deliver on my commitment(s)?

For me, that process actually starts at the very beginning: when I make a commitment, I ensure I have made a plan to deliver it. Not a vague, nebulous "I will get round to that at some point", but a real structured approach. If I have a plan to deliver, I can then know in advance that I have a risk of not delivering – remembering that the commitment, and therefore the delivery of that commitment encompasses the "what" and the "when". I then need to mitigate that risk, or accept that I have a real problem with delivering.

In my experience, if I cannot deliver on a commitment, there tend to be three most common reasons why:

1. I have made too many commitments;

2. Certain assumptions I made when I entered into a commitment are no longer applicable; or

3. A recent commitment, which has a higher priority than a previous one I made, has come along and the two commitments clash.

Understanding why commitments sometimes fail is only half the story. The real test comes when we are faced with the uncomfortable truth that we may not be able to deliver on something we have promised. In those moments, how we handle the situation – both with ourselves and with others – can make all the difference.

When you can’t deliver: What to do

Overall, it is important to remember that a commitment is most usually between two individuals. Team commitments are absolutely possible – and I have experienced some really good ones – but the most common form I have come across has been one-to-one. So let us take this example for illustrative purposes.

If I have committed something to somebody, and I realise that I can no longer deliver it (this is always a painful realisation for me), then I must talk to that other person, explain the situation and de-commit from commitment #1. Most of the time, this is followed by a fresh commitment – for example, a new delivery date.

What is not OK is simply to say nothing and to fail to deliver: this destroys trust and a part of my personal brand, i.e. that Alex is known to do what he says he will.

My technique for each case is similar and it goes something like this:

1. Too many commitments

I start with a good, honest look in the mirror and make sure that I really have taken on too much and that I am not just being lazy. Then I lay out all the various commitments I am aware of on the table and go through each one, deciding on importance and priority, and list the one(s) I am going to have to change. I talk to the people to whom I have committed for each commitment I am going to fail to deliver and ask them to accept a de-commitment and a re-commitment. And finally, go back to the mirror and tell myself not to over-commit in the future.

2. Shifting assumptions

This actually starts – in the case of a commitment which goes over a longer period of time – with writing down my assumptions at the beginning of the process. In this way, I can see if something has changed and whether there is a clear, logical and fair reason for needing to de-commit. A concrete example from this last year would be the Skyguide budget for 2024, which was completed in 2023 with certain assumptions about revenue and about what Skyguide would need to deliver in that year. A budget is always a commitment for me – a commitment from the CEO and from the Executive Team to the Board of Directors. About a third of the way through the year, it became clear that if we were to stick to our budgetary commitment, we would damage the company in the longer term because we would fail to make certain investments which are vital for the future success of the company. So, the Executive Board looked at the new reality around us and chose to de-commit and make a commitment to a revised budget – which meant that we finished the year in the red, but in a much better place in terms of strategic delivery.

The process of de-commitment and re-commitment was a very painful one to me, as I felt as though my pride and reputation were being damaged, but I also knew that this was for the long-term good of the company. And this is a higher purpose than my feeling of hurt pride, or of letting someone down.

3. Conflicting priorities

To take a more mundane recent concrete example here: I was supposed to deliver a paper for the Board of Directors for a particular Friday, and then along came a last-minute request for a paper for the Minister which also needed to be done for the same day, and not enough time to do both. Judging the ministerial paper to be both more urgent and more important, I de-committed on the Board paper and had that one ready a day later. No harm done, as both papers were ready before the last possible minute, and – and this is the point – Alex Bristol is still known to deliver what he promises….

There are also times when a task conflicts with my core values. These are the hardest dilemmas to navigate, and the most mentally draining if left unresolved. For me, the key is to address them head-on, find a solution I can stand behind, and act as quickly and transparently as possible.

Values vs Tasks: The toughest conflict

A cause of my most challenging conflicts crops up when my commitment to my values conflicts with a task I have committed to do. And it is important for me to resolve this one as soon as possible, because if I do not, it leaves me with an unresolvable dilemma until it is resolved, and this is mentally exhausting.

Here again, we can see the importance of facing the situation and taking positive action, rather than allowing a problematic situation to drag on.

For me, this means pausing and asking: Does this task still align with my values? Am I compromising something important by continuing? If the answer is yes, I must take action. That might mean renegotiating the task, having a difficult conversation, or – in some cases – walking away from a commitment altogether.

This is never easy. But over the years, I have come to understand that maintaining integrity is part of what makes someone a trustworthy leader. In the long run, honouring your values isn’t just good for your conscience – it is essential for sustained trust and respect.

Final reflections

And as we come to the end of this newsletter, I hope that two things are clear for anyone reading this:

Firstly, being able to commit and to deliver on that commitment makes a person predictable and reliable – qualities that help build trust and a strong professional reputation.

Secondly, I hope you now have a sense why the topic of commitment is so important to me, and why it plays such a central role in how I lead my teams.

And why I felt it worthy of two newsletters….