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Manoj Kambadur

Co-Founder at Stoa School

Highlights

Nov 1 · linkedin

#100CareerTruths — Truth No. 26

Under-promising and over-delivering is always better than doing the opposite.

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This is clichéd advice, but I'm taken aback by how uncommon this is, especially in Indian workplaces.

Whether you're undertaking a task, a project, or being interviewed for a different role altogether, your evaluation will be as much a function of your past accomplishments as it would be of the promises you make.

A good reputation is built only by repeatedly and reliably making a certain thing happen.

From what I've seen, there is a tendency for individuals to over-sell themselves, to their managers as well as future employers (it's probably how the 70-hour workweek was born).

If you've ever seen the phrase 'can work under extreme pressure and tight deadlines' on a résumé, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Sure, resorting to this tactic might improve your odds of being considered for a promotion or of getting your foot in the door, but if you don't find a way to deliver on your promises, you might soon be escorted out.

Doing the opposite might mean forgoing rapid career growth, or even a fat paycheck, but if you repeatedly do more than you said you would, your work begins to speak for itself.

That can then form the crux of your future efforts, both inside and outside the company.

These days, it doesn't do to just promise the moon. You actually need to throw a lasso around it and pull it down.

Word will get around if you can't, and you'll end up tempering your promises anyway, so you might as well not make outlandish promises to begin with.

Related Questions

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Manoj Kambadur
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Experience

Investment Fellow at Capria
Co-Founder at Stoa School

Education

Master Of Business Administration In Leadership, The University Of Texas At Austin - Red Mccombs School Of Business
Master Of Science In Information Systems, Birla Institute Of Technology And Science, Pilani

Location

Bengaluru, Karnataka, India