If you’re like most leaders, you have a picture in your head about the performance you want from your people, and you want to get them closer to that picture. When faced with a gap between how they actually perform and what you want, what do you do? It’s likely that your first inclination is to tell the person – about how you see the situation, or what you believe they should be doing differently. Of course you tell, right? You have a perspective you want them to get, and you see the opportunities for different approaches that you believe would be more effective. Furthermore, you probably believe that this […]
Implied Expectations
What are they and why are they dangerous for you and your organization? Often, I hear employees talk about “implied expectations.” This phrase typically comes up when a person doesn’t meet your expectations, and you are surprised and even disappointed. I hear many people say things like “I can’t believe he missed that, he must have known it was part of the job,” or “with his experience, I expected him to know what to do,” or “he has the title and pay, so he really should really know how to do the job.” Each of these comments suggests an implied, unspoken expectation. An implied expectation is the belief that, because […]