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Executive Podcast #237: How Leaders Can Set High Expectations

April 27, 2023
Executive Podcast #237: How Leaders Can Set High Expectations

Setting expectation for every member of your team is an important part of a leader’s job. If your expectations are not clear, then everyone on your team will leave it up to their own imagination of what acceptable performance looks like.

How can a leader ensure every member of their team knows exactly what’s expected of them?

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Perry Holley:

Welcome to the Maxwell Leadership Executive Podcast, where our goal is to help you increase your reputation as a leader, increase your ability to influence others, and increase your ability to fully engage your team to deliver remarkable results. Hi, I’m Perry Holley, a Maxwell Leadership facilitator and coach.

Chris Goede:

And I’m Chris Goede, executive vice president of Maxwell Leadership. Welcome, and thank you for joining. As we get started, I’d love for you to visit maxwellleadership.com/podcast. There, there’s a form for you to fill out. Two things. One, we’d love to hear from you. Do you have a leadership question, a challenge you’re working through that we can address on a future podcast for you? And then secondly, we’re doing a lot of virtual training. We’re doing some in-room training. I know you’re back on the road grinding with clients.

Perry Holley:

Yes.

Chris Goede:

And doing content to really help with culture and leadership development, some new kind of diversity around generational diversity in the workplace, all kinds of stuff. If you’re interested in that, I’d love for you to fill out that form and we’d love to get back in touch with you in regards to that. I think the most important part of that is it’ll help Perry with some future content, which he’s always looking for a little plug right there. Yes?

Perry Holley:

Yes.

Chris Goede:

Well, today’s topic is how leaders can set high expectations. And I think setting expect expectations for your team is probably one of the most important things you can do as a leader, not only for yourself as a leader and the organization, but for the individual and the return that could come from that.

Perry Holley:

Well, this came from, in our coaching work we do a lot of 360 degree assessments and I noticed it’s one of the elements that we evaluate leaders on. It’s around, I think about five levels, around level three and the things that you can do there. But I found in it always is one of those, it’s a go-to look and see how are your people perceiving in your 360 assessment? Do they believe you are setting expectations? Do they know what you expect of them? And it doesn’t often come out highly rated. It’s one of those I thought could use a little work so I’ve been adding some content to our five levels workshop at level three about how do you set expectations, thought we’d share some of that.

Chris Goede:

I love that. Going back to the Maxwell Leadership Assessment. I love you bringing that up because it is a great assessment for leaders, not only to take but then be debriefed on by one of our coaches. I think a lot of people take a lot of assessments. I think the gap that is not being filled right there is that it can be misinterpreted if you don’t have it debriefed by someone or a coach. And I know we get a lot of great results out of that. And back to what you were talking about with level three on the five levels of leadership, I always like to start off by saying, “Hey, if we don’t figure out level three, none of us have a job.” This is our production level. This is where, as leaders, people are looking at you and you’re increasing your influence because of what you’re doing. Not only personally, but in and through your team around producing.

And this is where your credibility is built. This is where you set goals, you have standards, you have expectations of the team. There’s priorities. And most importantly, and we get a lot of this in regards to requests around training, is accountability. It sets accountability for you as a leader, but it also sets accountability for those that are on your team and being able to have those accountability conversations because man, at this level, we have to produce as individuals inside the organization.

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Perry Holley:

That level three, when I look at that Maxwell Leadership Assessment, the 360 assessment, I do look at those. I think the five things you listed at level three, do you set goals? Do you set a standard for performance? Do you have high expectations? Do you hold people accountable for that, and do you know your priorities? If you did those five things, you’re going to have a pretty good reputation as a leader, you’re going to produce results in that. But I find they can lack on a couple of those, accountability is a big one. But setting expectations to me was, how do we do that? So I’ll just lay them out and I’d love to get your point of view on some of these.

The first one I think is that, back to those five things, you have to have established clear and specific goals. What I think I’m seeing is that most leaders are very good about setting the goal for however you’re measured this month or this quarter. And there definitely, there’s an annual goal. Usually it’s revenue and maybe there’s an expense target, those types of things. But I wonder what your thought is. What I’m thinking here is that we all have to have those, but when it comes down to what’s expected of me, I know we have to hit a number, but we’re going to hit a number as a team. Maybe you hit a number as individual, but shouldn’t the goals and what we’re aiming for be bigger than just a measurement, a target? Is there a bigger goal at [inaudible 00:05:06]

Chris Goede:

Yeah. I think one of the things that I try to do is I think daily activities lead to those goals. So we’ll talk a lot about that. But then even bigger than that is I like to tie in the goal to the bigger part of the mission and the vision of the organization. And then talk about the impact of, man when we reach that goal, when we do this, it plays a big role inside the organization because of that, and here’s how it fits. And so to your point, I love it, yeah, we all have goals. A lot of us every New Year’s try to come up with a couple goals and then they go out the window. But how does our KPIs, the goals and what we lead to with our team, how does that play into the bigger picture and make them aware of it to get them to be able to buy in, to be able to do that? And when you do that, they carry the weight a little bit more.

I think the expectations that you have on them may not even be as big as they have on themselves once they understand the impact that they can have on the global organization.

Perry Holley:

So what’s my role in…? We are going for a number, but the bigger mission, the bigger vision. What’s my role in attaining-

Chris Goede:

100%.

Perry Holley:

… My role with the team in that really helps me to understand the expectations.

Chris Goede:

That’s right.

Perry Holley:

It gets bigger.

Chris Goede:

It gets bigger. Yeah. I love that. It gets bigger. And by doing that, I think the expectations can increase. Second, if you want to set high expectations, you need to lead by example. Leaders. Leaders go first.

Perry Holley:

Why are you looking at…?

Chris Goede:

Leaders-

Perry Holley:

Are you feeling…?

Chris Goede:

No.

Perry Holley:

Do you need to confess.

Chris Goede:

No.

Perry Holley:

We’re all listening.

Chris Goede:

Yes. The whole team is listening.

Perry Holley:

Thank you.

Chris Goede:

No, listen. Leaders go first. We talk about this, Perry and I, it is a visual sport. We both like sports and so we try to tie a lot of leadership principles and sports stories. People do what people see. They are watching you all the time.

Perry Holley:

[inaudible 00:06:59] All the time.

Chris Goede:

All the time. And so we would need to make sure that we are modeling that behavior, that work ethic, that we are going to expect from our team because if they see it, it’s going to become contagious. And so if you want your team to work hard and you want them to be committed to a goal, let’s make sure you are as well because they’re going to follow in those footsteps.

Perry Holley:

And you are a good example except for how you do email. But-

Chris Goede:

Yeah, we’re working on that. Hey, you know what they say, “Lead where you’re strong, team or put a system around where you’re weak.”

Perry Holley:

Yes.

Chris Goede:

I’m working on putting a system around here.

Perry Holley:

You are doing much better. I’ve seen some real improvement lately. I got to returned email.

Chris Goede:

It was 30 days later, but it did come.

Perry Holley:

Hey, but it did come. Yeah, that’s right. Pretty excited

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Perry Holley:

I heard John ask a question, back to what you’re saying about leading by example, but he said, “If everyone on the team produced at your level at what you’re doing, if they mirrored you, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?” And that’s where you are. A good example. That’s your productivity, your work ethic, you’re leading from the front. You being out there does set a good example. We would not be working as, nobody wants to work as hard as they do and look over and you’re not doing it. So I love that-

Chris Goede:

I appreciate that.

Perry Holley:

… That’s a good thing. Third was if you want to set a high expectation, you’re going to need to provide the resources and support that people need on the team. Do people have what they need and the support to meet the expectations you’re set?

If you’re calling people to a higher level, to more productivity, I’m thinking things like training, coaching, access to tools, resources, things that may be there. Man, there’s nothing worse than having a leader set high expectations then leave you on your own to figure it out. So I like that idea of, as a leader, I do have a high expectation of you, but I’m checking in. I’m, do you have what you need? Are you spinning your tires? Where are you having a problem? Why are you not picking up the pace? And you’re thinking, “Well, we got this new report and we having to do it by hand and we don’t have any…” Okay, I can help with that. I thought if I don’t check in and know where you are, I don’t know how to help you to do that.

Chris Goede:

You as a leader, your responsibility, and this is what you’re saying, is to remove barriers for them in the way of achieving their expectation, their KPIs, and that you should be asking those questions. And I love that. And I think that right there, if you’re not taking notes or you didn’t download the learner guide, I want to encourage you, that right there is gold. If you had a team and you set high expectations, which I love that, then you better be in it with them, sometimes rolling up your sleeves, but most of the time saying, to your point, what do you need? What’s in your way? What’s not working? How can I…? And as a leader, that should be your responsibility as you set those high expectations.

Fourth, setting high expectations is to encourage feedback. While we’re setting these high expectations, it won’t be worth much if the team can’t meet them. If you can’t just, what do a lot of people say out there? Especially in the sales world, they’re putting a number out there and it’s like, okay, well that’s not going to work. Right? It’s just a wild guess on what they’re going to be able to accomplish. And so for this reason, we need to make sure that they’re realistic. You can have some stretch goals, but let’s make sure that we feel like we can attain or work towards those high expectations. And then we need to create an environment for this feedback. I would say continual feedback. We talk a lot about this and we have different parts of our business. Content, which you head up for us, we got account management and deliverables, we got sales, we got speaking, we got all kinds of different parts, consulting and coaching. And so we’ve got to be able to be comfortable receiving feedback from our team.

“Hey, I know this is the expectation of me as a team member. However, can I give you some feedback on why I think this is going to work, why it’s not going to work, why I think we can stretch that a little bit?” And be open to being able to have that dialogue. And so there’s a lot of leaders out there who don’t encourage feedback.

Perry Holley:

No.

Chris Goede:

They want to give feedback, but they don’t necessarily encourage it either, the communication pathways of going both ways, and I know you work a lot with this in the one-on-one coaching that we do with leaders around the world. How do we go about helping leaders create an environment of feedback? How have you coached through that?

Perry Holley:

And I asked a guy the other day, I said, “Are you providing feedback?” “Oh yeah, I love telling people all the good things they’re doing.” I said, “Okay, that’s encouragement. That’s not…” Feedback is two-way. There can be some encouragement for sure, but there’s got to be some constructive in there. And so I like having the feedback conversation, not the feedback sandwich. The feedback conversation says, “Here’s something I thought you were doing well, here’s an area I thought you could improve. What do you think?” And now we have a dialogue about that. But again, to go back to talking about leading by example. As I said, are you asking for feedback? Are you providing feedback? People are watching you. And if they know that every time that you’re together with your team, you expect them to give you some feedback about what you’re doing, they’ll begin to expect you giving them feedback about what they’re doing.

It breaks my heart to think that people don’t know how they’re doing. I’ve heard this, some people say, “I wish I got more feedback from my leader. I don’t know how I’m doing.” And most leaders have, “Well, if you’re not doing good, you’ll hear from me. If you don’t hear from me, you’re doing good.” No, no. I think we can all… Everybody has a next level. So are you helping people go to the next level? If you’re going to raise expectations on your team, this is about calling everyone to their individual next level. And that’s going to require feedback and maybe some coaching, maybe some mentoring. It’s going to require your input to help grow them and make them better.

Chris Goede:

We believe in the fact that everybody deserves to be led well. And I know when I think back over some of the experiences I’ve had, whether it be in sports or even just in organizations, I think about some of the times that I felt led well, I had some high expectations put on me. Now, did I achieve them all the time? No. But I had great dialogue. I had great support, I had great push from our leaders, and that was a huge growth moment for me and I felt like I was led well. So to your point, we’ve got to make sure we step into that and we’ve got to make sure that we’re okay with the feedback.

And I’ll give you this example. I have a team member, and I think I’ve shared this maybe, I don’t know, you’ve written over 250 episodes for us, so maybe it was back in the hundreds. But where we talk about, and we use the scale system. And so I have pretty high expectations on my team, and they’ll bring opportunities or questions and we’ll have this dialogue with feedback. Well, how do you think I did on this? Or what about that? And so after we have the conversation, I say, “How do you feel on a scale of one to 10 about that conversation? Where are you at on it?” And if I get below a seven or eight, I’m like, “Let’s keep talking about it. Let’s make sure we’re on the same page.” If it’s seven or eight or above, I’m like, “Okay, we’re good?” “Yeah, no, we’re good.” And then we’re able to kind of part ways and then they continue to drive for that expectation or that problem or whatever they’re trying to solve.

So there is ways for you to communicate in a way versus coming in and going, “You completely blew that. Let me tell you why you stink.”

Perry Holley:

Right.

Chris Goede:

And so there’s ways to do it. Creative ways to have really good exchange and dialogue around feedback with your team.

Perry Holley:

Now, think about, I almost quit a job once because I was a senior myself, and I was reporting to a very senior person. And just every time I brought work, he had something to say about it. If I said it was blue, he’d say it was teal. He would just have a feedback almost every time. And I told my wife, I said, “I think I’m going to quit. I can’t seem to do anything right for this guy.” And she said, “Tell me more.” And as I’m explaining it, she said, “I think he’s trying to make you better.”

Chris Goede:

Yeah.

Perry Holley:

Oh my gosh, are you kidding me? I never had a leader that took me to the next level.

Chris Goede:

I love that.

Perry Holley:

And that thought I could do more than I could. His expectations for me were a lot higher than my expectations for me. And six months later, he announced his retirement and I went from quitting to crying in six months. I thought, “Why, where’s this guy going? He’s making a difference in my life.” And I think back in all the years I’ve been working, probably two people that called me to a higher level. And I love that. So I want to be that leader that calls people to a higher level.

Chris Goede:

Let me jump in here real quick, because I think when they do that, I want to go back to this thing about communication for just a minute. Your momentum shifted once your wife brought that to your attention, which that happens often in both of our lives, that you go hmm, and now your momentum and your engagement and the expectations you had on yourself grew. And John talks about how momentum is the leader’s greatest friend. And so that starts with that regular communication on the goals and on the milestones. And we want to do it so that we’re motivating our people, not manipulating our people, but we want to be doing it for the right motive.

And I think that example of what you were just talking about was of a leader that had the motive to make you better. It was not to put himself up higher. It may have been to hit an organizational goal, but that wasn’t the primary driver. He was pushing and putting expectations on you to get better. And so I love that example. And just wanted to talk real quick about that from a momentum and a motive standpoint.

Perry Holley:

Number five, and the last one, I’ll turn it to you, would be celebration. If you’re going to set high expectations and you want people to continue to reach for those expectations and to fulfill those, you need to stop and celebrate every now and then. Let them know that you see they’re making progress. Let them know that we’re hitting milestones. Let them know that we’re hitting project goals. Whatever you see that they’re raising their game, even though you have a high expectation, high standard that you’re looking for from others, letting them know that you see progress. And a lot of people, they don’t mind working hard. They just want to know, do you know I’m working hard? Yeah. They don’t mind having a lofty goal. Do you know I’m going for that goal? And so letting them know through that kind of the art of celebration that we’re making progress.

Chris Goede:

I think about, another sports illustration real quick. I think about when the post-game interview happens and a team has just won a game and they go, “Hey man, what do you guys think about whoever you’re playing next week?” And they’re like, “No, no, no. Wait a minute. We’re going to take 24 hours and we’re going to celebrate what we did this past week, this past game or whatever. And then we’re going to get back at it.” And so to your point, all of us need that time of where we have those small wins that create momentum, as I mentioned just a minute ago, where we celebrate it, but then we get right back to it. And when you do that, I think that just helps move the ball forward a little bit faster.

Perry Holley:

Yeah. I do have a last thought about accountability, you mentioned it earlier. This is a great place to practice that and we’ve done podcasts on accountability, but one thing I’m teaching a lot of leaders lately is that accountability is not who to blame when expectations aren’t met, accountability is ownership. So I’m looking for, are the people on my team rising above the circumstances? And there are always circumstances that if they’re not rising above, you’ll hear excuses, blaming, why it couldn’t happen, all kinds of things. But if they’re rising above the circumstances, they own it and they’re going to demonstrate ownership. So I love that fact. And if I’m witnessing you rising above all the minutiae that’s going on around us and you’re demonstrating ownership, we’re in a pretty good place. If you’re not demonstrating ownership, we might have a problem.

Chris Goede:

That’s awesome. I love the fact you brought that ownership. Ownership and responsibility is key. As we wrap up, let me just say this. As we talk about setting high expectations, we’ve mentioned this before, John calls it the disappointment gap. And it is the gap that’s between reality of the situation, the team member’s performance, whatever it might be, and the expectations that you have on them, maybe they have on themselves in the certain situation. Leaders, it’s your responsibility to close that gap. And so that takes both having feedback around defining reality and then making sure we’re helping them not only set and attain proper expectations, but removing barriers, getting everything out of the way, like being an advocate for them.

And so the more that we can work on defining reality and then communicating and setting expectations that were in alignment with a team member, the smaller that disappointment gap will be. And when that happens, you’ll have less turnover. You’ll drive team member engagement, the organization will flourish, that team member will flourish, and then finally, your leadership will flourish. So just make sure that, as you look through these things, again, I want to make sure people know, Perry had five points for us there as we talk about the five levels of leadership. But the key is to make sure that you’re communicating and shrinking that disappointment gap.

Perry Holley:

Fantastic. Well, as a reminder, if you want to get the learner guide, you can do that as well as leave us a question or a comment. We love hearing from you at maxwellleadership.com/podcast. We love hearing from you, so please leave us a comment and we’re very grateful that you have spent this time with us. That’s all today from the Maxwell Leadership Executive Podcast.

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