Expectations

Recently I flew on Pacific Blue for the first time.  As it was my first flight I had expectations. Big Ones. Cool crew, more seat room, modern planes. It was to be an adventure.

On my first flight the crew were dull, boring and lifeless. Their attempts at humour were staged and had as much heart as frozen dead fish. My second flight was far more entertaining, the crew obviously enjoyed each other and started their own onboard dating service over the PA. On my final flight the crew were chatty and entertaining.

Surprisingly however, Pacific Blue did not live up to my expectations.

The first crew let them down. I hadn’t expected the seats to be so hard (yip really). I hadn’t thought about the fact I would need to buy a drink of water, and that the minimum visa transaction was $10. I don’t carry cash.

They did not meet my expectations. Not through any fault of their own but because I had the wrong expectations.

Jim flew with them a week later and loved them, metaphorically of course. His expectations were different. 

So…

In business, in life, or in love, expectations are the root of most problems.

Over and over and over again I have expectations for people that I forget to tell them about.  I think it is one of my greatest leadership struggles as it happened to me twice on Friday. They in turn have expectations of me that they don’t tell me about. I fail to meet their expectations and they mine.

All because we didn’t communicate well.

We become disappointed with each other,

Annoyed,

Even ANGRY!

Expectations, if I don’t communicate them, ARE MY PROBLEM.