Dear Yogesh,

I am the senior vice president of a multinational firm and have a team of five people reporting directly to me. All of my team members are highly skilled professionals who are considered seniors in the firm. These team members were hired by me, and I was fairly happy with my choice until I started noticing problems. These minor problems soon turned into major blunders. Even though I’ve made their responsibilities crystal clear at the beginning, I am constantly disappointed by my team members.

For instance, one time, I gave a mandate to a team member informing him about the weekly report that is submitted by our team every Friday. However, he consistently fails to upload the report that is required and needed by others and has to be reminded of the same task. There have been recurring issues like these in the team for quite some time.

Am I overly critical? Should I be giving passes when I know people have a lot on their plate? Is it me? Is it my team? But for how long? Any light you are able to shed would be great.

Regards,
Yash

---

Dear Yash,

In my limited experience as a person, employee, and leader, what I’ve noticed is–it’s always the leader. When a leader is complaining about his or her people, it is mostly the leader lacking in places and not the people. So let us look at how did I get to this conclusion.

If you’ve always been disappointed as a leader, there are high chances that you have very high hopes from your people, and you don’t give much direction or communication regarding the same to let your people know about the priorities. If this is your first time being disappointed in people, you have not set the priorities right or have failed to communicate the right way. It isn’t that your expectations are too high; it’s that your people aren’t aware of what they are.

It is somehow the case that you have clearly stated the roles and responsibilities, but you have not been clear enough about your expectations. You might have sent the message that it is important to make the reports, but it is also OK to miss deadlines with reports.

It is a common problem for us leaders to assume that the people we hire, the ones that are known as “experienced” or “seniors”, work to similar standards as we do. This is not just with you. Professional standards with people vary across the world. If you want your team members to rise to yours, you must tell them what they are.

In today’s professional world, there is such diversity of culture, context, generations, and backgrounds that you just can’t expect everyone to read your mind. Just because something is obvious to you does not mean everybody understands it.

So here are some examples of expectations you might want to share with your people:

• If you think this matter needs to be escalated as an emergency status with another department, please consult with me on the tactical approach first.
• Do what you say you are going to do.
• This report needs to be submitted on time and here’s why ________________.
• Submit all work at or before the deadline or inform me you will be delayed and negotiate for more time.
• Be on time for meetings, or let me know you will be late.
• Proof all final work before sharing it with anyone outside the department.

These are some of the examples that were on top of my mind. You can use them or alter them as per your situation. The beauty of disappointment is that it is all data. It is the information that you think is factual data for you and is obvious for everyone but, in fact, is not.

Accepting you have good compatibility with your people and they realize you have them covered, you can share your expectations and remind them depending on the situation without judgment.

Your responsibility is to assist your people with giving their work and assisting them to excel. As long as your standards are designed to do that, you will be just fine.

Regards,
Yogesh Sood

The above is an adaptation of a blog written by APRIL 2, 2022 MADELEINE HOMAN BLANCHARD

https://resources.kenblanchard.com/blanchard-leaderchat/disappointed-in-your-people-ask-madeleine