expectations....

We all have them in one way or another. I expect my children to obey me when I ask them to do something. I expect to get a paycheck from the company that I work for. I expect that people will generally treat me the way that I treat them. Now, you are probably thinking --- “Jason, not everyone will treat you the way that you treat them.” And to that I say --- I agree.

Not all expectations will be met. Quite often, my kids don’t obey me like I expect. I have been fortunate enough to get a paycheck from my company, but that may not happen someday. There are times that people do not treat me the way that I would expect to be treated either. When these expectations are not met --- especially with people that are close to us, sometimes it hurts.

I was told once by someone that I respect that you should “have very low expectations of people, and if they do perform, then you are surprised”. I was also told by someone else that I respect that you should “have very high expectations of people and they will come through for you”. I am trying to figure out the balance between having high expectations of others and potentially getting hurt vs. “expecting the worst and being happy if something else happens.”

Poor communication of expectations can lead to problems. If a mismatch in expectations occurs, often, someone gets disappointed. Let me give you an example: I have been in a sales call that the customer had the expectation that they would get a large upgrade to new product for FREE. When I went into the meeting, I was expecting that if we show them the great features that they are getting to meet their needs, 10-15 thousand bucks was very reasonable to pay --- especially since it was way below what anyone else would pay. They had their expectations based on their current reality that budget is tight as well as something that another sales guy told them. If they had communicated their expectation was “free” it would have saved time and effort. In this case, neither party is really a “winner” because expectations were not met on either end. My whole point here is that communication of expectations ---- high or low is extremely important.