Category: expectations

leadership dot #4523: progress

February 5, 2025January 31, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

In many of my workshops, I am asked about motivation and how to inspire people to do what needs to get done. It’s a challenge people face in their personal lives as well, needing the gumption to dig deep and get out of bed to go to the gym or to tackle that lawn.

Researchers studied over 12,000 entries in daily diaries workers kept to reflect on their work. The results showed: “Of all the things that can boost emotions, motivation, and perceptions during the workday, the single most important is making progress in meaningful work.”

Think about that: making progress is the big motivator, but too many times we operate in ways that obfuscate progress. We fail to develop benchmarks that can help people see they are moving ahead. We don’t take the time to tell stories, save documents, and reflect back on how far we have come. We don’t set clear goals so we know when we can plant the flag and celebrate the completion of this phase.

Making progress in meaningful work. Keep that front and center as you give assignments, plan projects, make resolutions, or have one-on-one conversations with your team. How will you know when you are doing it?

Source: Study by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer as cited in Reset by Dan Heath, 2025, page xxi.

leadership dot #4510: locus of control

January 23, 2025January 22, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A key concept to ascertain in an interview or early stages of a relationship is whether a person has an Internal or External Locus of Control.

Those pre-disposed to Internal believe they are in control of their destiny and are responsible for the outcomes in their lives. Got a bad review? I’ll work harder. Money is tight? I’ll start a side hustle. Marriage in trouble? Let’s go to counseling and learn what I can do differently.

Those pre-disposed to an External Locus of Control believe things happen to them and that external circumstances are responsible for how things are. Got a bad review? That boss never liked me. Money is tight? Those darn politicians have messed with the economy. Marriage in trouble? I’m unlucky in love.

There are always excuses for those who look externally first, and there are always actions the internal-leaning can try. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins describes it as looking in the mirror or looking outside the window. The executives who lead great companies looked in the mirror when something went awry.

Listen carefully to your internal voice when confronted with something that goes wrong — is your first response to blame something or to own it? How you respond determines whether you’re in the driver’s seat or just along for the ride.

leadership dot #4504: switched

January 17, 2025January 16, 2025by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

On an episode of The Resident, the hospital CEO made a deal to switch providers for medical implants. It was lucrative for the hospital but doctors were upset that their preferred devices were suddenly no longer available to them.

I felt the same way last night when I opened up the software program to type this dot — and the entire formatting had changed without warning. Apparently, someone thought it a good idea to have black backgrounds on the template and almost invisible gray type as the new default. “We’ve adopted a WordPress’ new format” they crowed. This can’t be what others want.

If you’re making a change to something that people are familiar with and use regularly, the implementation will go much smoother if the user is involved in the decision, or at the least, notified before the change occurs. Few people like surprises, especially when they impact productivity.

How my editing screen now appears. If you can read what I wrote, you have better eyesight than I do. Help!!

leadership dot #4469: watching

December 13, 2024December 11, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A sneaky but clever device for parents to extract the best behavior from their children is a Santa Cam — a realistic (but fake) camera that reminds kids Santa is watching them. It probably only works during this time of year, but it could do the trick.

There is no such thing as a “supervisor cam” so supervisors need to be more intentional about holding their teams accountable for performance. If you let deadlines pass or tasks go undone without follow-up or consequences, it signals to your staff that the actions don’t matter, or at least timeliness doesn’t. To establish the expectations, you may need to do some reminders (“The budget is due next week, see me if you have questions but I expect it by end of day Tuesday”) but by golly, if that budget isn’t there when you walk in Wednesday morning, you need to be on the phone.

If you want others to be accountable, you need to be clear about what success looks like and address it when someone doesn’t comply. Expecting good behavior without external motivation is an unrealistic ask from most people. Let them know that Santa is watching.

leadership dot #4417: conflict resolution

October 22, 2024October 21, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Leadership Dots’ “Venn Diagram Week” came about because I was doing some purging and found my master’s thesis: Conflict and Its Resolution: A Study of Student Programming Organizations. The premise of this academic masterpiece is that people in student organizations experience conflict when one of three conditions is present: role conflict, interdependence, or scarce resources. If multiple conditions exist, greater conflict occurs.

This was written 40 years ago (gulp!) about student groups but the same theory remains applicable to all groups today. If there is confusion as to who is responsible for what, if there are overlapping responsibilities, or if resources (funds, time, space, tools) are scarce, there will be conflict. It’s a pretty straightforward premise that few would argue with, yet we have people in all types of organizations who have no job descriptions, received little onboarding, or know nothing of their resource parameters.

Let something valuable come from this study before the typewriter ink on the pages fades away. Commit to doing one thing to help your team gain some clarity in one of the three areas. Just knowing “what is” can go a long way toward preventing a time-wasting clash of expectations.

leadership dot #4358: surprised

August 23, 2024August 22, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

My trip to Boston centered around attending a concert at Tanglewood to hear the masterful John Williams conduct the Boston Pops Orchestra. I scheduled the trip around his performance, paid handsomely for seats close enough to see him in person instead of via screens, and looked forward to the event for months.

But then, he was sick and unable to attend — something I did not know until that evening.

My disappointment overshadowed the rest of the concert. Was it still a gorgeous venue? Yes. Did the orchestra perform magnificently? Yes. Was the music the same as if the Maestro had been there himself? Yes. But my expectations were out of alignment with the reality.

The man is 92 years old so it was not out of the question that he would be unable to conduct on a hot summer night, but I never considered that option. Tanglewood never alluded to that possibility or made any adjustments due to the “main event” being unavailable. It was just assumed that we would all go with the flow.

When you offer something you are not going to deliver, the sooner you notify people the better. It will, of course, be a disappointment, but the advance warning can allow space for expectations to readjust and synch with what reality will be. There’s no hope of adapting when the setback is a surprise.

leadership dot #4356: toothless

August 21, 2024August 20, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A flyer was posted on the porch of all the houses on the block: NOTICE: STOPPING, STANDING, OR PARKING PROHIBITED. IF YOU ARE PARKED WITHIN THE POSTED AREA DURING THE DATE AND TIME THAT THIS RESTRICTION IS IN EFFECT YOU WILL BE TICKETED AND TOWED.

Or not.

A few people moved their cars to make room for the moving truck, but many remained. With no tickets, no towing.

Will people heed this notice the next time it is posted? With each false proclamation — whether about parking, “mandatory” attendance, use of equipment, or any other regulation that threatens action but doesn’t follow through — the impact of future warnings is diminished. If you want to show your teeth, you should be prepared to use them — otherwise, teeth are better saved to form a smile.

leadership dot #92a: salt shaker

August 13, 2024August 9, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A student employee was asked to cover the lunch shift of the Welcome Desk receptionist. “I can cover until 12:55,” he replied. “I have a 1pm class and walking in late to that is like walking into an active volcano.”

In Week 1 of classes, obviously this professor had established clear boundaries and expectations for behavior. The same principles were described by Danny Meyer in his book Setting the Table. Meyer likened supervision to keeping a salt shaker in the center of the table (i.e. setting expectations of desired action). Customers continually moved it (i.e. tested expectations). The job of the leader was to continually put the salt shaker back to the center through “constant, gentle pressure” about why it was important to be there.

Even if leaders set clear expectations, over time they will be abandoned without continual resetting and articulating the consequences for even a little variance. Coming to class at 1:02 becomes 1:05 and then 1:10. Some leaders believe it is easier to let minor transgressions slip, but by allowing the salt shaker to “scoot” a little each time it will invariably fall off the table altogether.

Think about what the salt shaker represents for you and take care to honor it — over and over again.

leadership dot #771a: three strikes

August 6, 2024July 30, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A friend of mine had a son in his first year of Little League. In one of his first times up to bat, he was out on a called strike.

“He didn’t even swing at the ball!” exclaimed his mother. “How could he be out?”

The player did not understand why he was out either, not because he was arguing with the ref or thought the ball was outside the strike zone.

He was out because the rules had changed from the level of play he was in during the previous summer. In T-Ball, you can swing at the ball as many times as it takes to hit it. In Rookie League, the coach pitches until you hit it. A called strike is a concept for the bigger leagues and was one that was not explained to the new players.

Does your organization have things like a called strike — something the experienced people know but fail to explain to others? Are there ways you can make the transition from one level to another easier for those who must do it? Do rules and norms change depending on the seniority of people?

We often take for granted that everyone knows “the way things are done around here,” but in reality, they do not. Before you call someone out on metaphorical strikes, make sure you take the time to explain the expectations and highlight the rule books for the newcomers.

Originally published in modified form on July 12, 201

leadership dot #3433a: short term

August 2, 2024July 30, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Short-term and temporary may both refer to brief or non-permanent situations but I think they each have a different impact on our mindset. If a situation is labeled as temporary, the focus becomes on the ending — “this is just for now and soon it will be over.” Contrast that with something that is short-term where there is more of an acceptance that “this is how it is for now.” It may end, but there is a focus on the present.

Clarifying the distinction can help with realistic planning and the setting of expectations. If we treat something as temporary that lingers into a short-term and even longer circumstance we incur mental fatigue as our goalpost keeps moving into the future. If a situation has an unknown ending such as helping someone through recovery, facing budget restrictions, or an extensive road project, it may help to acknowledge that this current state is the reality and adjust your thinking accordingly as if it were a permanent condition.

Language shapes thinking and mindset shapes actions. Don’t make a difficult situation harder by how you frame it.

Originally published in modified form on November 8, 2021