How Great Leaders Properly Set Clear Expectations

A leadership expectation is a clear and mutually agreed upon standard or outcome that teams are responsible for achieving within a specific timeframe. When you properly set expectations, it demonstrates that you care about team members, performance, and yourself.

So, let’s get after it.

What it means:

What Coach K is saying is that it’s impossible to get better without changing the expectations of a team or team member. It’s also true that when you change limits, people will fail or come up short.

But failure is not final; failure is feedback. Failure provides teams with a way to learn so they can achieve more in the future.

What it means:

Expectations are the crossbar for a high jumper. Without the crossbar, it’s impossible to know or measure their performance. You will be shocked to see how team members rise or fall to the level of expectations set for them.

What it means:

One of the most popular comments I get when teaching expectations is, “I don’t have expectations; that way, I am never disappointed.”  While it’s true that disappointment is the gap between expectations and reality, it’s an embarrassingly low bar for how to lead.

However, if most managers are being honest, they don’t struggle with having expectations; they struggle with communicating them. This is a significant problem because an unspoken expectation is an assumption, and assumptions set us up for suffering.

Use your gift,

John Eades

CEO | LearnLoft | The Sales Infrastructure

How Great Leaders Set Clear Expectations (Blog)

Results Follow Commitment

Results follow commitment and never the other way around. The issue is that even when you're committed, the results aren’t guaranteed. You can’t control the outcome, but you can control your commitment. You don’t know the fruit your commitment will bear, but you won’t experience any of it if you aren’t committed.

David Brooks says, “Commitment is when you fall in love with something to such a degree that you put structure around it for the times when you no longer feel in love with it.” Being committed to something is an obligation that restricts freedom of movement.

What comfort or pleasure are you willing to sacrifice that’s worthy of your commitment?

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Here Are Some Ways We Could Partner:

Leadership Development Done Differently - Did you know that 83% of organizations have some form of a leadership development program in place? This highlights the widespread recognition of cultivating leadership skills within teams. It seems like most executives recognize that: “Leadership doesn’t guarantee success, but a lack of leadership guarantees there won’t be success.”

However, despite the high percentage of companies with leadership development initiatives, the effectiveness and scope of these programs vary significantly. This is why I wanted to invite you to explore Accelerate Leadership for your organization.

It’s a done-for-you program customized to your managers and their situations. If you’re in HR, L&D or an Executive with managers in your organization, why not let us take the development of your leaders off your plate?

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