Do you set expectations for yourself or your business?
One of the hardest things about owning a business for me has been the lack of preset expectations.
When I worked for others, they gave me quotas and guidelines.
I like knowing what is enough and what is even better.
I wish I had learned this about myself a little earlier.
While growing up, my parents expected A’s and B’s on my report card. C’s were unacceptable, and A’s were rewarded.
In my mind, B’s were the mark. What if they had told me B’s were unacceptable? We will never know 😂.
I managed my efforts in 6-week increments. For example, Math was supposedly my worst subject. I now know it wasn’t that I couldn’t do math at a higher level. I know now because while I was trying to avoid getting a dreaded “C.” I was an 11-year-old sixth-grader laying awake in my bed, averaging what grade I must get on my next test to bring my grade up to the mark the “B.”
It was not my worst subject by ability; it was the one that held my interest the least.
I preferred Science, Social Studies, and History in those early days. Math and English were too heavy with rules and details.
But, my entire school career was spent managing my effort to the expectations.
In school, my teachers never asked any more of me either.
Seventh grade was the year that changed my life.
The entire summer before 7th grade, I worried and lost lots of sleep as I listened to classic country radio about my fate in 7th grade.
You see, there were 4 homerooms for the oldest group in my elementary. The seventh grade was our last year in elementary, and they would get us prepared for jr. High and beyond.
The seventh grade would be the year we would start changing classes.
It was four classrooms and a few sets of lockers scattered about the single hallway that separated the rooms in our small rural elementary school.
The building was stone. It was old, and the floors were hardwood. The bathrooms were in a basement, and it was so dark! It smelled musky and damp. There were sometimes small frogs living in the corner.
One day the neighbor’s goat got loose, and it was out in the hallway just taking a stroll.
I remember the first day of my seventh-grade year. The smell of fresh floor polish, painted walls, and my stomach was in knots. I wasn’t nervous about the kids, the teachers, or the work.
It was all because, in 7th grade, your class was not a random selection of friends that ended up together for a year.
All the seventh-grade kids were to be divided by ability or expectations of ability into 4 categories: A, B, C, and D groups.
I had been lying awake and praying every night and every morning for the entire summer from mid-May through now mid-August praying I did not end up in “the C group” I on occasion feared the D group and dared not pray to be chosen for the “A” group.
When I got off my yellow bus that morning, I pushed myself up the side steps, and the first place I went was to the sheet hanging outside the door of you guessed it, “The B Group” my last name began with W, so it was a long scroll to find my name there at the bottom.
There was my name well within expectations. I found my place for the next year.
I was relieved at first but then heartbroken as my best friends were all in the “A group class.” They were running up to me in the hallway, sharing their news and then consoling my disappointment.
My former sixth-grade teacher read the feelings on my face as she shared, “Reena, you were the next one in line for the A group; there just wasn’t enough room.”
That year, my homeroom teacher spent one whole class period explaining there are A group people and B group people in this world. We should strive to reach the A group status before it was too late.
He had made one B in college and was asked to explain himself during a job interview around the B on his transcript.
I realize now that I was managing my time and efforts around what others expected of me.
I was not managing things based on my ability, interest, or personal goals.
My goals were to meet expectations and not get into trouble for not meeting them.
My seventh-grade year was a pivotal one. I had to make new friends, maintain friendships with those that were better than me in the “A group,” and overcome some self-esteem issues that surrounded the whole scenario.
This is the first time I’ve discussed this subject in such detail. It was no one’s fault that it was hard for me. I worried unnecessarily, as I still often do about something I had no control over.
But, I realize now I matured that year. You see, it suddenly became apparent to me that I could put in more effort.
I started to look around and see myself in control. I could do anything the “A group” student could do, and I was going to prove it.
The speech from my teacher could have felt like judgment, but instead, it was a reminder I had some control. I had not been putting in my best effort. I had been meeting expectations.
Some kids in my group were putting in a lot of effort, I’m sure of it. But, I had not been giving much effort. I had given it worry and headspace but not effort.
This has been a long story to make a point for those who have your own business and have salespeople.
It’s essential to set some expectations. How much and what kind of activity do you expect? How much sales volume do you expect from yourself or your team each month?
There are many people like 7th grade me; they like to meet expectations.
So, help them succeed by giving them some marks to measure their efforts.
Then like me, when they start to believe in themselves, they can exceed those expectations and thrive to hit the next big mark of achievement.
If you would like to work on setting, meeting, and exceeding expectations for yourself or your team, I would love to help.
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