Being Unreliable is a Habit You Can Break

Duty
- November 25, 2025

Being unreliable is a habit. Duty is a habit as well. Whichever one you practice, it will become a habit.

We all drop the ball sometimes. We forgot a Zoom meeting. We missed a voicemail. We forget to pick up the dry cleaning for our spouse. Nobody’s perfect. But there are certain people who are just flat out unreliable. Missing meetings, voicemails or chores isn’t just periodic. We expect it of those people. They make a habit of being unreliable.

You can be unreliable in many ways. Sometimes we are unreliable in the things we are assigned or asked to do. Sometimes we are unreliable in the things we ought to do.

Assigned or asked:

Accuracy in administrative reports
Vehicle maintenance checks and cleanliness
Putting your dirty clothes in the hamper

Ought to do:

Coaching/mentoring younger employees
Checking on the emotional/mental wellness of colleagues
Cleaning up your mess after you make a sandwich at home

It doesn’t matter if we drop the ball on an assigned task or what we ought to do; when we choose to avoid either, we develop the habit of being unreliable. Someone who makes these choices consistently will never gain the trust of their leaders, their peers, their subordinates, or their loved ones. Who trusts somebody who is unreliable? We trust people who exercise the habit of Duty.

Definition of Duty: Taking action based on our assigned tasks and moral obligations.

Duty is a critical Habit of Character because it truly is a marker for the rest of our character. If we exercise Duty on a habitual basis, we are probably exercising the other Habits of Character.

Courage: You need Courage to have the tough conversations that leaders ought to have with those they are called to lead and develop.
Humility: You need Humility to take the time that you ought to in order to listen to feedback and learn from others.
Integrity: You need Integrity to uphold the standards you ought to enforce, even when it is a former peer challenging that standard.
Selflessness: You need Selflessness when you ought to stop and listen to the problems of a teammate or a family member, even when you are tired or in a hurry.
Positivity: You need Positivity when you ought to encourage everyone on your team or in your family, even when the S ___ hits the fan.

Each time you choose to follow through on the things you are assigned to do and the things that you ought to do, you are strengthening the habit of Duty. Those consistent daily choices are what will help you break the habit of being unreliable.

If you want to be trusted by the people you work with and the people you live with, you need to be reliable in both the assigned tasks and the moral obligations (the ought to’s). Most people don’t expect you to be perfect, but they do expect you to be consistent in exercising Duty.

Being unreliable is a habit. Duty is a habit as well. Whichever one you practice, it will become a habit. Because the more you practice anything, it becomes a part of who you are and what type of leader you are. Would you follow you?

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