Y Is for YOUR Expectations: Are You Setting Your Team Up for Success or Leaving Them Guessing?

Exploring the MYRTLE Model

Growing up, expectations in school were pretty clear.

You read the book. You completed the worksheet. You wrote the paper with five resources, a beginning, a middle, and an end. You studied for the test, earned your grades, and eventually graduated.

You generally knew what was expected of you and what you needed to do to be successful.

Then you entered the workforce, and things got a little more complicated.

Suddenly, expectations weren't always so clear. Sometimes they were communicated. Sometimes they were assumed. And sometimes, you were expected to learn from your mistakes rather than being taught how to prevent them in the first place.

Have you ever worked somewhere where you felt like you were constantly trying to figure out what someone wanted from you?

I have.

Throughout my career, I've experienced environments where I knew exactly what was expected of me, how my performance would be measured, and what success looked like. I've also worked in environments where expectations were ambiguous, leaving me to interpret what someone meant and hope my understanding aligned with theirs.

And that can be exhausting.

Not necessarily because the work itself is difficult, but because of the mental energy spent trying to figure out what you're supposed to be doing.

What Happens When Expectations Aren't Clear?

Our brains are constantly working to make sense of the information around us. When something is unclear, we draw on past experiences, our assumptions, and our individual understanding of what certain words or instructions mean.

The challenge? Our interpretation may not match someone else's intention.

Think about a leader telling a team member, "I need you to be more proactive."

What does proactive mean?

To one person, it might mean taking initiative without being asked. To another, it might mean communicating updates more frequently. To someone else, it might mean anticipating problems before they happen.

Three different interpretations of the same expectation.

If the leader never explains what being proactive looks like in practice, how can the employee confidently know whether they're meeting that expectation?

Research on workplace role ambiguity supports the importance of this distinction. When people are uncertain about their responsibilities or what is expected of them, it can negatively affect their work experience and performance.

Consider the mental energy an employee might spend second-guessing decisions, worrying about making a mistake, or trying to anticipate what their manager wants.

What could that person accomplish if they had a clearer understanding of the goal?

Clarity won't eliminate every challenge, but it can give people a better starting point.

Clarity Creates Freedom

When we hear the word expectations, we might think about rules, restrictions, or being told exactly what to do.

But what if clear expectations actually create freedom?

When someone understands what needs to be accomplished, why it matters, what success looks like, and what resources are available, they have a clearer direction for their work.

Instead of spending time interpreting ambiguous instructions, they can focus more of their attention on solving problems, making decisions, and contributing their strengths.

And here's an important distinction: clarity doesn't mean micromanagement.

Effective leaders don't necessarily need to dictate every step. They can communicate the destination while giving people appropriate ownership over how they get there.

Let's go back to our example of being more proactive.

Instead of saying, "I need you to improve your communication and be more proactive," imagine a leader saying:

"I'd like you to provide a brief project update every Friday. Include what's been completed, what's coming next, and any obstacles where you might need support. If you see a potential issue before then, please bring it to my attention so we can work through it together."

Now the employee has something concrete to work toward.

They understand what the leader means, what the expected behavior looks like, and when to ask for support.

That doesn't guarantee perfect performance. Skills, resources, competing priorities, and other factors still matter. But it removes one avoidable obstacle: having to guess what success looks like.

Your Job as a Leader Isn't Just to Deliver Results

This brings me to something I feel strongly about.

We often talk about leadership in terms of results.

Did we hit the numbers? Did we increase productivity? Did we grow the business? Did we meet our goals?

Of course those things matter. Organizations need results to succeed.

But I believe we sometimes focus so much on the outcomes that we overlook the work that helps people achieve them.

A leader's responsibility isn't just to deliver results. It's to help create the conditions that allow people to achieve them.

That means modeling the behaviors you want to see, communicating clear expectations, providing resources, offering feedback, and helping people grow.

It also means recognizing that people can't reasonably be expected to meet a standard they haven't had a fair opportunity to understand.

This is where the first two components of my MYRTLE Model connect.

M — Model the Way.

As leaders, we have an opportunity to demonstrate the behaviors, values, and standards we want our teams to embrace. Our actions help show people what those expectations look like in practice.

Y — YOUR Expectations.

We need to communicate those expectations clearly so people understand what success looks like and have a direction to work toward.

Because modeling the way without communicating expectations can leave room for interpretation. And communicating expectations without modeling them can create a disconnect between what we say and what we do.

When these two elements work together, we give people a stronger foundation for success.

And when we combine that foundation with the right skills, resources, feedback, and support, we create better opportunities for people to thrive and for positive business results to follow.

Communicating Expectations Is Only Half the Equation

Here's another piece of the puzzle that I think is easy to overlook.

Just because we communicated an expectation doesn't necessarily mean the other person understood it the way we intended.

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking you were both on the same page, only to discover later that you had completely different understandings?

It happens.

We all bring our own experiences, perspectives, and definitions to a conversation. That's why setting expectations needs to be a two-way process.

As leaders, we can invite questions, encourage clarification, and ask team members to explain how they understand the goal.

Instead of simply asking, "Does that make sense?" try asking:

"Can you walk me through how you understand the goal and what success will look like?"

This isn't about testing someone or putting them on the spot. It's about making sure you're starting from the same place.

It also creates an opportunity to identify missing information, discuss potential obstacles, and address questions before they become bigger problems.

Clarity isn't just about what we say. It's about building a shared understanding of what needs to happen next.

A Question Worth Asking

The next time someone on your team doesn't meet an expectation, consider pausing before assuming they lack motivation, effort, or ability.

Ask yourself:

• Did I clearly explain what success would look like?

• Did we share the same understanding of the expectation?

• Did I provide the information, tools, and resources needed to succeed?

• Did I allow space for questions and clarification?

• Did my own actions reflect the standards I communicated?

Sometimes, the issue isn't a lack of effort or ability.

Sometimes, it's a lack of clarity.

And that's something we, as leaders, have the opportunity to address.

This doesn't mean accountability disappears. Clear expectations actually give us a stronger foundation for accountability because everyone has a better understanding of the goal and the standard they're working toward.

We can have more productive conversations about performance when expectations have been communicated, understood, and supported.

So, here's my question for you:

Are you clearly communicating your expectations and goals to your team, or are you assuming they already know what you want and how to deliver it?

What might change if you spent a little more time establishing clarity before the work begins?

Because leadership isn't about making people guess what success looks like.

It's about helping them understand it, giving them the tools to pursue it, and creating an environment where they have the opportunity to succeed.

That's what Leading with Clarity means to me.

And it's why the Y in the MYRTLE Model stands for YOUR Expectations.

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J. Myrtle Training & Development Partners LLC

Lakewood Ranch, FL

Phone: 941-299-5486

Email: Info@JMyrtleTraining.com

Hours: Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm EST