Often when a company reports a multi-million profit the stock price goes down. This would seem inconsistent with the ‘great’ results. Yet stock markets work on expectations and when results differ from expectations stock prices react.
The same can be said of us, as humans. It isn’t so much the result that counts, it’s how it compares to what we were expecting or what we were promised.
Understanding this some people purposely ‘under promise’ knowing that they will ‘over deliver’. On the face of it, this seems a good strategy to delight a customer. However, in the case of one of my clients this habit led him to become overly cautious. He wouldn’t take risks and this arrested his development as a leader.
Another client was so eager to please he would continually say ‘yes’ and wouldn’t set boundaries. Only to find that he couldn’t deliver what he promised. His colleagues began to doubt his ability and tended to dismiss him as a ‘yappy puppy’ without gravitas.
How do you form an expectation and why does it matter?
What conversation do you have with your colleagues and customers to ensure you share standards, practices and expectations and can deliver on your promises?
#conversations #promises #leadershipcoaching
