In business, most losses don’t happen in public.
They happen quietly—through conversations that never progress, meetings that keep moving, and “opportunities” that absorb attention without ever becoming real.
The risk is not simply dealing with the wrong people.
It is spending too long with people who were never serious to begin with.
Sincerity is not an attitude. It is the willingness to carry real cost: time, resources, decision-making and follow-through. Learning to recognise this early is one of the most practical skills in modern professional life.
Below are common patterns that signal low sincerity—often before any formal agreement is made.
The meeting that keeps moving
On the surface, it looks like interest:
- They suggest a meeting.
- You agree on a date.
- They confirm—sometimes more than once.
Yet the pattern becomes familiar:
- “Something came up.”
- “Can we move it to next week?”
- “Sorry, let’s reschedule again.”
Individually, each change is understandable.
Collectively, they reveal a simple truth: you are not a priority.
Professionals with real intent do two things:
- They guard the time they asked for.
- They adjust other tasks around commitments, not the other way round.
When a meeting is repeatedly rearranged, you are not just losing an hour—you are receiving a clear signal about where you sit in their hierarchy of importance.
The “collaboration” means you work for free
Sometimes a conversation begins with, “We’d love to explore collaboration.”
It sounds promising. But as details emerge, the proposal becomes:
- You provide expertise, product value or creative direction.
- They provide “exposure”, “future opportunity”, or “market access”.
In practice, this is not collaboration.
It is an unpaid consulting framed as partnership.
Real collaboration has three qualities:
- Shared contribution – both sides put something tangible on the table.
- Shared risk – both sides feel accountable for the outcome, not just the activity.
- Shared benefit – value flows in both directions, not just one.
If you are carrying the work and the risk, while the other party carries only the narrative, you are not building a partnership—you are subsidising one.
The joint venture where only one person is building
Two people agree to embark on a new venture.
One of them:
- invests time
- organises information
- builds early versions
- speaks with potential customers or partners
The other:
- is “still freeing up capital”
- is “currently very busy”
- “definitely wants to be involved”
- has a lot of opinions on direction
Contribution becomes theoretical. Feedback becomes abundant. Actual effort remains low.
The pattern to notice:
- High influence requested, low responsibility accepted.
Healthy partnerships make effort visible:
- Time spent
- Money committed
- Decisions made
- Ownership taken
When only one side is building, the other is not a partner—they are an observer who wants a share in the outcome without participation in the process.
The urgent request that disappears once the structure is introduced
Another behaviour appears as urgency:
- “Can we jump on a call right now?”
- “Do you have five minutes immediately?”
There is no context, no agenda, and no preparation.
However, the moment you introduce structure—by proposing a clear time, sending a calendar invite, or asking for basic information—availability shifts:
- “I’m travelling.”
- “This week is packed.”
- Silence after agreeing to a slot.
Sincere urgency respects structure.
Insincere urgency resists it.
Professionals who genuinely need support understand:
- Time needs to be scheduled.
- Both sides should arrive prepared.
- Clear topics lead to better outcomes.
When urgency evaporates the moment you create a frame around it, you are likely dealing with interest in conversation, not commitment to progress.
The real cost of insincerity
Insincerity is often not malicious.
It is more commonly a mix of:
- Poor discipline
- Unclear priorities
- A reluctance to make decisions
But regardless of intention, the impact is the same:
- Projects drift
- Teams lose momentum
- Reputations are quietly eroded
- Focus is diluted by conversations that go nowhere
A simple filter helps:
Where there is sincerity, there is visible commitment.
Commitment looks like:
- Time that is honoured
- Resources that are actually allocated
- Messages that receive clear, timely responses
- Decisions that move something from idea to action
Intent lives in language.
Sincerity lives in behaviour.
Professional collaboration as shared responsibility
Effective collaboration is not built on enthusiasm; it is built on mutual responsibility.
You can usually see it in five areas:
- Clarity – expectations, goals and roles are explicit.
- Timeliness – decisions and responses arrive when they are needed.
- Responsibility – both parties accept their part in outcomes, good or bad.
- Contribution – each side brings something concrete, not just commentary.
- Accountability – commitments can be traced back to a person, not a group.
When these elements are missing, discussions may feel positive, but they rarely become results.
Professionals who are serious about working together tend to show it early:
- They do what they say, when they say.
- They don’t overpromise.
- They rarely need chasing.
A selective approach to opportunity
Sincerity is often treated as a “soft” quality, but its effects are very operational:
- It reduces waste.
- It accelerates decision-making.
- It protects teams from unnecessary friction.
Declining to proceed with someone who is not showing commitment is not negativity; it is stewardship of your time, energy and reputation.
The more selective we are about who we allow into our calendars, inboxes and roadmaps, the more space we create for partnerships that are:
- Clear
- Reciprocal
- And genuinely productive
In a landscape full of ideas and invitations, sincerity becomes a quiet but powerful competitive advantage—both in how we choose our collaborators, and in how others experience working with us.
