What do you want to be known for?

You've seen it, haven't you? You work with someone who is just naturally talented. Perhaps James is a great speaker and presenter. He can engage a crowd and have them eating out of the palm of his hand. Maybe Tanya is a great writer and thinker. She can churn out emails and documents that leave awe struck with her brain power. Perhaps Joe is a natural leader. His people literally crowd around him because of his magnetism. With all the brains and talent these people have, some of them really struggle with being successful. Why?

Often the reason you see people with such great talent struggle with success is that they're not performing the basics. The examples I mentioned above have so much going for them, yet they fail to:

• Follow up on their commitments
• Arrive at meetings on time...or even at all
• Return phone calls
• Meet deadlines

In a word, they lack credibility. They cannot be counted on. Those around people like this start to say, "wow, that was a great presentation..." and "gosh, that woman's thought process, being able to dig down through all the clutter, is amazing..." Then the people follow up their statements with "...but, he never got back to me on X" or "...but, she failed to follow through on her plans."

You know how to fix it: be disciplined as well as talented. Any number of people can provide you a road map for success. You just need to follow it.

What do you want to be know for? Do you want to be known for your great talent? Do you want to be remembered for your credibility and reliability? Or do you want to be remembered as a "...but, he" or ...but, she"?

It's your choice.