Print This Article     Email This Article to a Friend       The Power of Expectation   "High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation." —Inventor Charles Kettering When you genuinely expect an employee to rise to the highest standard of performance imaginable, it has the effect of pulling that person there. This philosophy can be seen in Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." (KJV) God has prepared an expected end for each one of us. He expects great things for us. Why should we do any less to those around us? If you are a leader and expect all of your people to perform to a high standard in order to achieve what God has called your company to do, you will see something like a supernatural hand reaching down and pulling them to a higher level of performance than otherwise might have been possible. I see this on virtually every level of authority. Don't get me wrong, I am not interested in letting a non-performer blame his boss's low expectations for his life. Yes, a leader's expectations do have an effect on someone's performance; however, every individual ultimately chooses the quality of his or her life. My point is that your expectations as a leader can supernaturally impact the performance of those who work for you. Your expectations are critical to their performance. Prejudiced by the Past Here is a challenge we must all overcome. What are our expectations generally based upon? Past performance, right? For us to expect to experience the promise of God in our own lives instead of what is in the world, we have to deliberately exercise our faith in the promise of God. And yet, where our relationships are concerned, we let others' mistakes predispose us to the same attitude toward them rather than employing one of our greatest tools—the expectation of faith—to lift them up. So when someone has not done as well as you would have liked him to do, do not fall into the trap of "writing off" that person. Your expectation of better things for other people could be the very thing that will lift them up. The Genuine Article Now, this expectation has to be genuine. You cannot simply go to someone saying, "I believe you're really going to do well this quarter," trying to pull on this scriptural truth like a slot machine, hoping for the jackpot of a better performance. No, your expectations for this person must really be in your heart. There is only one way you can get to that place. The apostle Paul gave us the model in the prayers for his followers. Paul prayed that the church at Ephesus would have a revelation of the hope of God's calling and of the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19). When you pray in faith and believe your prayers are going to get results, you elevate your expectation. As a leader, one of the most important things you can do is pray in that manner over the people God has called to work for you. Pray the same way Paul prayed over the church at Ephesus—in faith, believing God for His best. It will elevate our expectation of what those individuals can do. Then, from a heart filled with faith, you can encourage them to strive for loftier heights and goals than they ever have before. Your encouragement will be genuine. You really will believe they can do it. Encouraging Expectancy When talking about encouragement in the workplace, Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, once said: "Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise." Encourage your coworkers and employees to perform beyond what they think they can do. Encourage them to expand their own expectations for themselves. Take the time to develop the faith of expectation over those who work with you; your expectation will lift them to a higher level.
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