Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Leaders' 4 Steps to Managing Expectations



Hand to heart: have you ever found yourself a little disillusioned with the people who work for you? Slightly disappointed with the quality of their work, or their attitude, or maybe their lack of fresh ideas and commitment? Maybe you wondered what your life as leader would be like if only X was more like Y, and Z was a little less X... If you had found the ideal employee. Someone who is everything and does everything the way you require and expect it. Maybe you actually know a real-life ideal employee, and sometimes hope that others would become just like them. At the very least, a little bit.

It's OK to have ideals, to know precisely what it is that you are looking for in your team members. However, be aware that these ideals can create expectations towards your real-life employees, expectations that might not be fulfilled and leave you - as their manager - empty, frustrated and disappointed. And this might affect your leadership effectiveness and relationships with them. 

So, how can leaders manage their expectations towards their team members?

Maybe this helps:



My Ideal Car: an analogy


This is my ideal car (true story):














If I had a Ford Shelby GT 500, this is how I would treat it:


  • Wash and clean it by hand every week
  • Check oil regularly
  • Cover up at night when parked outside
  • Allow no other driver
  • No eating/drinking inside car
  • Regular professional maintenance




Now, the reality check. This is my actual car:













Do I treat a 1993 Toyota Camry like I would the Ford Shelby? Let's check:


Ford Shelby
Toyota Camry
Wash and clean it by hand every week
         Irregularly
Check oil regularly
         No
Cover up at night when parked outside
         Never
Allow no other driver
         Always lend to friends
No eating/drinking inside car
         Both permitted
Regular professional maintenance
         Never
 

Why should I? (It’s not a Shelby!)

      Still, there is something wrong with this answer. Do I treat my real car bad because it’s not a Shelby? Or do I treat it bad because I think it’s not worth it? (either way, I treat my car bad).


Bottom line: I keep imagining my ideal car but the reality is: I’m stuck with my less-than ideal car. And this disappoints me every time I look at the Camry and think of the Shelby.


Question: How can I manage my constant disappointment with Camry, the less-than ideal car? (By changing my mind.)



4 steps to managing unrealistic expectations:

     
1.       Functional aspects test:  What do I actually want from a car?
 
        


  • Transportation
  • Reliability
  • Price efficiency
  • Low maintenance


 
How do both Shelby and Camry stack up when I look at my actual requirements?

Requirements
Toyota Camry
Ford Shelby
Transportation
yes
yes  
Reliability
yes
unknown
Price efficiency
yes 
no
Low maintenance
yes 
no
  

This is astonishing! My less-than ideal car does everything I really need, and my ideal car won't deliver!

         2.  Reality Check: What is the potential impact of my behaviors on Camry?

(Camry gets treated badly, so his performance will deteriorate, affecting our relationship to the worse).

   

          3. Re-Adjust Focus: What is really important? What is it that I need? 

Re-define actual requirements according to goal.
Become aware of ideal-reality bias. (Ouch. What am I doing with poor Camry?)

         4. Create the right context: Eradicate superfluous expectations 

Focus on the goal.
Display behaviors that instill desired outcomes in Camry. (Treat him well!!)


Managing Ideals Effectively can improve employee and team effectiveness

Research shows that positive expectations can improve employee performance (Pygmalion effect). But do we ever consider the possibility that we might expect too much from others? (e.g. is it fair from me to expect my Camry to be a Shelby?)

If the answer is yes, do we really think that the constant pressure of unrealistic expectations makes us better leaders, managers, team mates or subordinates? 

Quite the opposite, I propose.
This car analogy shows that it’s not some miraculous dynamic that intervenes and creates destructive outcomes following high or unrealistic expectations. It’s our very own attitude and subsequent behavior towards a ‘suboptimal’ other that might just make the big difference. 

If we can change our mindset by following these 4 steps of managing ideals, we can
·          

  • Learn to focus on the functional/positive side of what we have instead of wishing for an ideal,
  • Understand that it is our own behavior caused by unrealistic expectations that might have an impact on other people's performance and our relationships, and
  • Create the context for desired employee behaviors in our capacity as leaders.

(And yes, I  still think of the Ford Shelby GT 500 as my ideal car. But I treat my Camry much better these days.)

2 comments:

  1. Great article, Andrea! Wonderful example and calls to mind the need to constantly know one's self and expectations to be a better leader.

    ReplyDelete