Creating a Legacy Through Values: Sustainable Expectations

Once we’ve laid a foundation around the simple practices involved with modeling our core company values and we’ve provided our teams with a consistent example of what each value living out each value looks like in practice, we should be well on our way to building the culture we’re after within our organization. But creating a legacy that leaves a positive impression with anyone who ever hears about us - the reputation we’re known for far and wide, and long after we’re gone - will require everyone on our teams to exemplify those values. To do this, we’ll absolutely have to establish clear expectations that can be sustained long term; this is how we can work toward our own version of Truett Cathy’s “My pleasure!”

As I emphasized the importance of identifying the ways we can build our values into our daily routines, with our leadership roles first then into the daily tasks our team members are responsible for, I suggested that we work to keep this as simple as possible and tie any systems we create back to how we’re wired individually - our own behavioral style. Just to make sure it sinks in, I’ll stress this again: flashy ideas and fancy new approaches may draw attention initially but simplicity drives results. We’ll never get lasting value from something we can’t stick with!

To build our business on a foundation of values that truly has a lasting impact on the people we’re called to serve, sustainable expectations are a must. While this certainly isn’t complicated, we’ll need to be incredibly intentional in how we go about it. As with modeling our core values through our own behavior, we’ll set the standard for how every leader on our team defines what’s expected and maintains accountability. If we can’t sustain this, is it reasonable to think anyone on our team will?

With that in mind, let’s take a detailed look at how we can establish high but sustainable expectations, communicate them clearly, and develop the kind of team accountability that everyone strives to live up to - rather than an atmosphere of threat-based compliance. In explaining “The Cost of Confusion” (chapter eight in What’s KILLING Your Profitability?) I shared how I’ve frequently seen supervisors and management shy away from setting high expectations for their teams out of fear that this could push people away. The best leaders I’ve ever had the chance to be around not only set high expectations, they held their teams accountable to the behaviors required for achieving those expectations. While complainers and mediocre performers were quick to distance themselves from this, it attracted some of the best team members in their organizations. And it all started with those leaders being crystal-clear about what was expected every single day.

Defining EXACTLY What’s Expected

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from John Maxwell over the last decade or so was from a short session I had access to just before the larger event where I completed certification to teach and train on his material. John shared a brief lesson before fielding questions for the small group. But prior to taking those questions, since we would all soon be newly licensed to represent the content he had poured his life into, John told us that he needed us to be very intentional about always exceeding our clients’ expectations any time we were using his name. He went on to explain that the only way we could ever have the slightest chance of doing this was by making sure we understood exactly what was expected. That requires clarity, clarity we’ll need to provide for each of our team members if we so much as hope they’ll work alongside us in creating a legacy through our organization’s core values.?

I can’t speak for the rest of the folks in that room, but hearing John Maxwell place that expectation on us added a tremendous amount of pressure for me. Having studied his work for close to fifteen years at that point, I had learned as much from him as I had from any other source and I had a high level of respect for his resources. Before going into any more detail on how we explain the behaviors we expect to see in modeling our values, I’ll share what John said as he wrapped up that removed quite a bit of stress immediately. He explained that as important as it was that we work to exceed expectations, doing so would immediately separate us from even the closest competition. He went on the share that in his experience, 80% of people routinely fall short of what’s expected. He told us that around 15% of the population will typically do just what they’re expected to, then stop. He closed by saying that only 5% will ever work to go beyond what’s expected of them. John wrapped up by detailing how simply taking the time to understand what a client is looking for gives us a chance of exceeding their expectations.?

Unfortunately, I’m convinced that his percentages are no longer accurate; it seems like far more than 80% fall short of what’s expected and finding those who exceed expectations has become increasingly rare. Most of us in the room with John back then were already in leadership roles or in business for ourselves. As leaders, it truly falls on our shoulders to make sure we learn exactly what’s expected of us from anyone we’re providing with the slightest bit of service. When we have a team counting on us for leadership, we’re also responsible for providing them with explicit detail of what they’re expected to do - including how we expect them to model our core values. As I mentioned before, I often see folks shy away from setting (or maintaining) high expectations with their teams due to concerns of pushing people with critical skills away. Interestingly enough, the opposite is generally the case. Failing to set clear - and high - expectations allows room for mediocre performance, and frustrates our best team members. While high expectations may weed out the underperformers, it tends to bring out the best in others. Great team members are ready and willing to routinely exceed expectations, and that sets the tone for outstanding team performance, around our values and over the long haul.

Great Team Are Built Around High Expectations

I remember a time very early in my behavior-based safety career when Terry Ward (who I’ve mentioned several times in this look at values and throughout my first two books), stopped by my office to chat about something. When he stepped in, I had an email pulled up from Cindy. I can’t recall what the exchange was about, but likely something to do with our son and one of his teachers. Regardless, it wasn’t work-related. Terry called me out on it. He wasn’t rude, just direct. He was also very intentional in explaining the perception that could give anyone else coming into my office. Our behavior-based safety initiative was still relatively new and didn’t have a lot of support from many of his peers on the management team. To take it step further, he shared some examples of others in the facility who had earned a reputation for being less than stellar performers. He closed by saying that while he understood the reason, he still expected me to take the high road and set a great example; remember the lesson about choosing the harder right over the easier wrong that I learned from him and his time at West Point?

Here’s the kicker: Terry wasn’t my boss. On paper, he had no positional authority to give me direction. Quite honestly, my supervisor probably wouldn’t have said a word about the email exchange with Cindy. I was effective in my role and hadn’t dropped the ball on anything I was required to do. Terry, from the very first time I met him, has always had very high expectations of me. That was definitely the case the entire time we worked for the same company, but it hasn’t changed in the nearly two decades since. The most recent example of him challenging me in an area he expected me to do better in was in November of 2019 when Cindy and I visited him at his home in Richmond. He put his arm around me, told me how proud he was of several things we had accomplished, and then proceeded to tell me I was fat - and he was 100% correct!

With him not being my boss, ever, why has his input carried so much weight in my life and career for more than 25 years? Very early on in our working relationship, he earned a tremendous amount of influence with me by showing just how dedicated he was to helping me grow. While he wasn’t my supervisor or manager, I’ve always viewed him as an outstanding leader. Because he had earned that level of influence, I’ve always wanted to meet and exceed any expectation he’s placed on me. Even when those expectations seemed out of reach, I pushed toward them because I knew he wouldn’t challenge me with something I wasn’t capable of.

Now, let’s tie all that to how we can work with our teams to create a legacy by living our company’s core values, and we’ve defined exactly what that looks like. The fact that you’ve stuck with me through this process assures me that you’re going to do everything in your power to be in that 5% Maxwell said consistently exceeds expectations, even though I’m convinced that number has dropped off considerably over the last several years. Think about the folks you’ve looked to for leadership throughout your career. Hold on though, don’t confuse that with any old clown who happened to have the word “manager” in his title; I’m talking about the ones who genuinely earned influence with you like Terry did with me. If they set an expectation for you, one that you felt was even remotely possible, what were you willing to do to reach it? I’m betting anything you possibly could, and maybe a little more…?

When a leader has earned our trust, we feel confident that any expectations they set are achievable; any expectations they place on us are ones we know can be sustained - even if they seem out of reach initially. And when those who have earned true leadership influence consistently provide an example of how we can rise to their expectations, it can bring the best out in us. Over time, setting those high expectations for modeling our core values will bring our best team players together to form a great team. Even then though, accountability for sustaining those expectations is critical for creating a legacy, so that’s where we’ll pick up soon.