“The key is to have high expectations of people,” said one of my teachers. “This rule applies whether you are working with delinquents, footballers, peak performers or whatever."
"You can focus on the person’s strengths – the ‘elite part of them'. It is important to raise people’s sights and show what is possible. You can then encourage and enable them to make it possible.”
During the past 40 years I have used this approach in many different scenarios. When running a therapeutic community, for example, I arranged for the young people 'in care' to visit universities and run seminars for student social workers. They ran sessions on ‘how to help troubled young people’. They performed superbly and won many plaudits. There are many other situations where the high expectations approach works.
Let’s explore how you can follow these steps in your own way.
1) You can raise people’s sights to show what is possible.
Can you think of a situation where you want to communicate high expectations? You may be running a counselling session, teaching a class, leading a team or whatever. Your expectations must, of course, be based on what you believe people can achieve.
Sometimes this means communicating the guidelines ahead of time. For example, I explain to potential clients that I only work with people who aim to be positive, professional and achieve peak performance.
This approach is positive but tough. People invariably respond well. But there have been occasions when it has been necessary to draw the line. If people lapse into game-playing, for instance, I suggest they would be better suited finding another person to work with them. Everybody can falter. But it is vital to focus on people’s strengths and have high expectations.
Great leaders tap into this vein all the time. They say things like: “I have a dream … We shall overcome … We are going to put a man on the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.” They show what is possible.
How can you do this in your own way? Start by thinking of a situation where you want to raise people’s sights. Bearing in mind their strengths, what do you think they can achieve? Try completing the following sentences.
2) You can help people to believe it is possible.
The belief must be based on reality. So how can you help people to believe it is possible to reach the goal?
a) You can encourage people to build on their strengths.
Everybody has talents, even if they only show these for a moment. You can look for when people ‘come alive’. When are they in their element? What are the specific activities in which they feel at ease and yet are able to excel? When do they deliver ‘As’, rather than ‘Bs’ or ‘Cs’?
When do they take responsibility? What are the activities in which they have a track record of finishing? When have they overcome setbacks in the past? What did they do right then? How can they tap into this inner strength? How can they follow these principles to overcome setbacks in the future?
b) You can encourage people to ‘control the controllables’.
Imagine you are leading a team. You can encourage people to do three things. First, to clarify what they can control. For example, they can control their attitude, professionalism and the way they communicate. Second, to clarify what they can’t control. For example, they can't control the market, though they can still do their best to influence it. Third, to clarify how they can build on what they can control and manage what they can’t.
Positive people focus on what they can control and build on it. Negative people focus on what they can’t control and complain about it.
c) You can encourage people to get an early success.
There are many different ways to get some early wins. Here is one example from the time I was the youth development officer for a football club in Sweden. We aimed to move the youth team’s ranking from number 120 to the top 30. After surveying the talent, I quickly got in five new players.
The next step was to arrange an indoor tournament during the winter pre-season. We invited 3 teams from the Swedish top division, plus 4 other teams. (The big clubs accepted because we had a fine indoors pitch.) The tournament draw was arranged so that, providing our team played well, we would reach the semi-finals and pick up a medal.
That is what happened. For the first time our players were on the same pitch as youngsters from the top Swedish clubs and also won enough matches to get medals. The club’s board were impressed and gave us money to buy more players.
It is vital to engender belief. This is the case whether you are working with individuals, a team or a company. But this must be based on reality. One approach is to build on their strengths, control the controllables and get an early success. Let’s return to the specific situation in which you want to raise people’s sights. Try completing the following sentence.
3) You can enable people to make it possible.
People must now do the hard work. This is also where your skills as an educator come to the fore. Providing you have laid the groundwork properly, you will have equipped them: a) To build on the right strengths; b) To set the right strategy; c) To develop the right skills to achieve success.
This does not mean your work is over. You may provide ongoing coaching and other support. Ultimately, however, it was not Gandhi who gained Indian Independence; Martin Luther King who won civil rights; John F. Kennedy who landed on the moon. Such leaders may have shown what was possible. But it was the people who did the work.
Everybody has talents. The key is to focus on the best part of the person, team or organisation. It is then to communicate the high expectations. Providing people are building from a basis of belief, they love to stretch themselves. You can then enable them to achieve ongoing success.
How can you do this in your own way? Let’s return to the specific situation in which you want to raise people’s sights. Try completing the following sentence.
Posted on Friday, October 28th, 2011 at 4:00 pm in Sharing knowledge, The Strengths Blog | RSS feed
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