Consistency is underrated because it’s boring.  But it’s hugely important.

Many times,  I’ve had people point out the times when “they were a leader”, when “they fixed problems”, or “handled things well”.  Yes, but are you consistent? For every time you exhibited those traits, were there times when you didn’t? Or is not demonstrating those traits actually your norm? Consistency means almost always.  You are almost always precise, organized, articulate, strategic, team player….

People value track records, and they value consistency. They want to know that they can always count on you to be predictable. When you’re unpredictable, you’re unreliable.

I’ve sat in a lot of promotion discussions where the issue wasn’t that the person didn’t exhibit the behaviors we were looking for, the issue was they weren’t consistent. Inconsistency raises red flags. It implies risk.

If you get feedback about things you think you do already, ask yourself if you’re consistent and be honest with yourself. When you raise the bar to become more consistent, you raise your game.