(Akron, OH) I’ve been interviewing 18-24 year olds this week about their work experiences at one of the area’s largest employers. Each and every one has told an amazing story about being thrown into challenging work assignments within their first month. No arbitrary, prolonged “watch and learn on the sidelines” periods. This is baptism by fire. And the newbies are kicking butt, contributing real solutions that are saving - or making - the company millions. That’s what happens in cultures with high expectations and support.
Their stories remind me of my time coaching high school juniors and seniors at Business Horizons, a business camp in Des Moines. For five years, my co-adviser and I conspired to start our week with a lie. We told each new batch of students: “You have been specially selected to be on this Team. The other advisers will be watching you, expecting more from you. It’s likely that you will win the events. And we’re committed to helping you.”
You can guess what happened. Our teams worked their butts off. They would have breakfast and dinner meetings. When other students were presenting with flip charts, our team would show up with PowerPoint. They would remind each other of the expectation to perform. And they demanded a lot from us. My co-facilitator and I would invest an average of 98 hours apiece with our students during the week. And every year, our teams would win.
We have choices every day at work and at home. Are you contributing to a culture of high expectations, or one in which mediocrity is expected?
