This essay focuses on breaking a promise or lying immoral. Do you agree with his reasoning? Why or why not? Can you imagine a case where one ought to lie or break a promise? Explain.
According to Kant, why is breaking a promise or lying immoral? Do you agree with his reasoning? Why or why not? Can you imagine a case where one ought to lie or break a promise? Explain.
Growing up, the lesson was that we should never, ever break a promise. As leaders, we hear messages that affirm that lesson – “you’re only as good as your word,” or DWYSYWD (Do What You Say You Will Do). Of course, these are very good principles to abide by.
when it simply is not possible to keep a promise you’ve made? The absolute moral imperatives don’t give us any latitude, nor any instruction, about how to handle situations when a promise made will not be a promise keep.
It goes without saying that these times, when promises will be broken, should be the rare exception to the promise rules. But it would be naive to say that every promise can be keep. So when those times come, we should be prepare to break our promises honorably. The objective would be to break the promise without breaking the relationship and without damaging our own credibility. Can it be? How?
in a blog series about behaving as a leader. That subpoint said that leaders sometimes need to break promises. After fielding several indignant responses and incredulous questions, we thought we should clarify that we are not advocating frivolous promise-breaking nor giving license to those who never intended to keep their word. This blog post is mean to explain how to break a promise in those times when there is absolutely, positively no other choice.
Making a promise is, indeed, a profound act. Within each promise is encapsulated the possibility of hope fulfilled and the vulnerability of broken trust. We must all take our promises seriously. But no one should be the prisoner of an impossible promise.
Life alters our paths, and we sometimes are left with no other choice but to realign our promises to match the current reality. It’s not a lack of integrity, in those situations, to break a promise. Instead, integrity is measured by what you say and do when you have no choice left and must break a promise.
In order to break a promise honorably, you need to be sure to do the following:
When you make a very rare event, chances are that others will give you a little grace when you do need to a promise you’ve made. When you do, doing it in the honorable ways listed here will also help others to see that you accept responsibility. Breaking a promise, in the right way, may even enhance trust and build your relationships.