John Steinbeck, the great author, said it as well as it can be said.

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him.

The opposite is true too of course.

And this is perhaps the most important, yet most often overlooked key to our success as leaders.  If we want to achieve great results (and why would we want anything less?), we must expect those great results of ourselves and others.

This advice transcends leadership styles and is far too often neglected or ignored in leadership skill training.  It doesn’t matter whether it is in supervisor training, or a leadership development program at any level, this profound truth must be shared.

Make this one of your leadership activities today:  Read this sentence aloud five times today.  Then raise your expectations of yourself for the rest of your day (consider reading this post for more ideas).

Then do these things tomorrow and the next day.

Raise your expectations of yourself and of your team (but notice I suggested to start with yourself first).

This is not a magic pill, but the application of expectations of greatness work like magic.

I see your potential, and I hope you do as well.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He has spent over 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.

Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference. The American Management Association named him a “Leaders to Watch” and he has been twice named as one of the World's Top 30 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus. Top Sales World has named him a Top Sales & Marketing Influencer several times, and his blog has been named on many “best of” lists. LeadersHum has named him one of the 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2023.

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