“I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” – Darth Vader

Those words must have hit Lando Calrissian like a ton of bricks. He made a deal with a leader and he broke his promise. One of the keys to leadership is trust and when we go back on our word we lose whatever credibility we have built. I believe Kouzes and Posner were right when they said that the foundation of all leadership is credibility in “The Leadership Challenge.” John Maxwell called it, “The Law of buy-in: People buy into the leader, then the vision.” It only makes sense because a person can have a great vision, but without proven character very few will get on board. That’s is why when we promise to deliver something to someone on our team, we need to follow through. The greatest leaders make a promise and keep it because they know that if a leader doesn’t have his word, then no one will be willing to follow him. I don’t think Lando is going to make any more deals with Mr. Vader any time soon. Because a leader that alters the deal is a leader that isn’t worth following…