The level of support you give to your team needs to align with your expectations.

When I begin to work with the leadership group within an organisation. One of the first aspects I choose to investigate and frequently observe is disparity.

If you’re a leader with very high expectations and provide very low support, your people are poised to fail. If they feel very much unsupported in the goals, you have set. It is unlikely they will achieve them. Either by experiencing a lack of motivation or that it is simply just too hard.

This situation can also result in unplanned leave, disengagement and a reduction in staff retention.

Alternatively, if you provide a very high level of support and very low expectations, your business is most likely a warm and fuzzy place to work. However, this behaviour can result in your staff feeling that you are satisfied with the bare minimum.

They may have no real desire to push themselves or, worse still, feel that you don’t have any confidence in their ability.

When one aspect is out of balance with the other, you are bound to have an unproductive or dysfunctional team. It’s unlikely that you will be able to achieve the level of performance that you require from your people or yourself.

A key element of being a successful leader is assessing your ability to identify with these two areas equally.

Ask yourself…

‘Have I considered the expectations of what I require my people to deliver? ‘

‘Does it match with the level of support that I can provide? ‘

If you’re an 8/10 with your expectations, you need to be an 8/10 with the level of support. When you have obtained balance, results will follow.