How Collaborative Expectations Help Leaders Bring New Urgency to Outcomes

There are many actions a leader can proactively take to improve the performance of their team. If you asked 100 average managers what the top 3 things they could do to improve the outcomes of their team, the three themes could be summarized as better communication, more resources, and clear goals.  While all three of those are meaningful, they miss the most important one, the one managers have the most control over, which is higher expectations. 

Retired basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who won five national titles, reinforced this:

"In order to get better, you have to change limits." 

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 I have learned from studying 65,000 leaders and coaching hundreds of leaders is that people rise or fall to the level of the collaboratively set expectations.

People rise or fall to the level of collaboratively set expectations. 

However, most managers need help to establish collaborative expectations.  

What are Expectations in Leadership?

A leadership expectation is a clear and mutually agreed upon standard or outcome that individuals or 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.  

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. Imagine how poor one's leadership skills are to set a bar so low it's on the floor.  To think so little of yourself and of a team member that all you are trying to do is avoid disappointment.  

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

An unspoken expectation is an assumption, and assumptions set us up for suffering. 

To avoid this, let's dig into why standards are so essential 

The Reason Expectations Are Important

Establishing collaborative expectations are crucial because they provide a roadmap for team members, outlining what's important to focus on and getting their buy-in. The reasons can be summarized into three themes, which I refer to as the 3 A's. 

1. Alignment - Collaborative expectations eliminate ambiguity, ensuring team members understand their roles and responsibilities, which creates a shared buy-in of the culture. 
2. Accountability - Setting expectations established a foundation for measuring performance and holding each other accountable for high-performing behaviors. 
3. Acumen - When leaders set expectations, it demonstrates their competence which builds trust - the foundation of any successful relationship. 

If alignment, accountability, and acumen aren't vital to you, let's not forget the statistics that support them. 

• Employees are 50% more engaged when they have clear expectations from their leaders.
• Teams with clear expectations are 30% more likely to meet their performance goals.
• 70% of employees feel more motivated when their roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.

The Formula of Quality Expectations

To ensure the collaborative expectations you set don't fall into the category of being ignored, there is a simple formula we teach in Accelerate Leadership.  

1. Clarity - Is it clear what is being asked of them?
2. Timeline - Is it clear when it needs to be done?
3. Quality - Is it clear to what standard it needs to be done?

The formula for quality expectations is simple, but it doesn't mean it's easy. However, with practice and collaboratively using your team to come up with the expectations or confirm what they are, you will improve.

Remember, assumptions set you up for suffering, so refuse to be the leader who doesn't communicate the expectations. 

Closing

Don't be the kind of leader who runs away from setting expectations.  Be the kind of leader who runs towards them.  At the center of performance is a leader who is willing and able to change the limits. To raise the bar on expectations and coach their team to reach them.

The only remaining question is whether you are willing.

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About the Author: John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best: 8 Proven Leadership Principles to Elevate Others to Success. You can follow him on Instagram @johngeades.