The Art of Setting Clear Expectations
Cathie Leimbach • October 3, 2023
Being clear about the type of results you want is essential for effective leadership. It provides direction, alignment, and motivation for your team. Here are some tips to help leaders be clear about the results they want:
- Paint a Clear Vision: Create a compelling vision of the desired results. Help your team understand the big picture and why their work matters in achieving that vision.
- Define Specific Goals: Clearly articulate your goals in specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) terms. For example, instead of saying "improve customer satisfaction," specify "increase customer satisfaction scores by 10% in the next quarter."
- Provide Context: Explain the context and the "why" behind the goals. When people understand the reasoning, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to achieving the results.
- Break Down Goals: Divide larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks and milestones. This makes it easier for your team to see the path to success and stay motivated along the way.
- Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Identify key metrics and KPIs that will measure progress toward the desired results. Share these metrics with your team so they can track their performance.
- Prioritize: Clearly define which results are most important and should be prioritized. This helps your team focus their efforts on what matters most.
Being clear about the specific results you want will help your team stay focused, motivated, and aligned toward achieving team and organizational goals.
In most organizations, the instinct is to add —more goals, more projects, more meetings. But as Juliet Funt, founder of the Juliet Funt Group, teaches in her Strategic Choice process, real leadership strength lies in deciding what to stop doing . Strategic Choice is the intentional narrowing of priorities—cutting away the clutter so teams can focus on what truly drives results. It’s a disciplined act of letting go: saying no to good ideas so there’s room for the great ones. Funt’s approach challenges leaders to pause, think, and create the mental and operational space their people need to perform at their best. By removing unnecessary tasks and misplaced effort, leaders make room for precision, innovation, and real thinking time. This isn’t about doing less—it’s about doing what matters most. When businesses adopt this mindset, they replace overwhelm with clarity and regain control of their time, energy, and outcomes. For small to mid-sized companies, embracing Strategic Choice can transform busyness into focus—and that focus is where sustainable growth begins. Want a quick visual overview? View Strategic Choice: Making Room for What Matters to see how this process helps leaders focus on what truly drives results.
Hey team leaders! Ever wonder why some companies soar while others stumble? Patrick Lencioni's bestseller, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team , nails it: workplace dysfunctions such as no trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoiding accountability, and ignoring results lead to mediocre performance at best. But here's the good news—smart leadership development changes the game! Start with building trust . Train leaders to open up and be vulnerable. Teams bond, ideas flow, and costly mistakes drop. Next, embrace healthy conflict . Teach team leaders to make it safe for team members to share the pros and cons of current or new ways of doing things. This helps everyone understand different perspectives. Then, drive commitment . Leaders who clarify goals, ask everyone to share their level of buy-in, and address their concerns get everyone bought in. People focus on high value work and get more done. . Hold folks accountable through coaching. Leaders learn to give kind, direct feedback by praising good work and calmly providing more training as needed. Turnover plummets and the quality and quantity of work improves. Finally, focus on results . Be clear on expectations. Keep score by monitoring progress weekly or daily. Acknowledge team wins when the goals are met. Winning sports teams pay attention to these Five Behaviors of a Team. How would a World Series winner have been determined this week without trust among the players and coaches, openness to tough coaching, the whole team working together, players focusing on their specific positions, and getting players around the bases to get the top score? Every workplace can benefit from these team behaviors as well. Lencioni's research proves it: Companies who prepare their leaders to overcome these 5 common workplace dysfunctions, improve the culture and see huge financial gains. Invest in your leaders today. Your bottom line will thank you! Click here to learn more about the painful cost of team dysfunction.