Last week, I shared the idea that our team members are our customers. Today I want to take that a step further.
If you're a leader, you've almost certainly thought about what you expect from your team. Job expectations matter, and they're not going anywhere. But there's a question most of us never ask, and it's just as important:
Do you know what your team expects from you?
Expectations run both directions. And if we're only paying attention to one side of that equation, we're missing half the picture.
Your Team Is Your Customer
Think about how you'd define a customer. Someone you deliver products or services to, right? That's exactly what we do as leaders. We're delivering things. We're providing a service. Our team members are absolutely one of our customers.
And here's what's obvious once you frame it that way: if you want to know what a customer wants or needs, you ask them.
So why don't we do that more often with our teams?
How to Find Out What Your Team Wants and Needs
Ask. This sounds simple, but it's the step most leaders skip. You can't know what someone wants or needs unless you ask them directly.
Listen without judgment. When your team tells you something, your job in that moment isn't to explain, defend, or push back. It's to listen, take it in, and work to understand it. You don't have to act on everything you hear, you don't have to become a people-pleaser, but you do need to understand where they're coming from.
Agree on expectations together. Once you understand what your team needs from you, and how they want to be led, there's room for a real conversation. What do they need from me? How do they want me to show up? When you can find agreement here, everyone wins.
Create a feedback loop. This is the part that's easy to forget. Just like you would with any customer relationship, you find out what they expect, you work to deliver, and then you check in to see how you're doing. Don't treat it as a one-time conversation. Make it ongoing.
Why This Matters
Clear expectations are the hallmark of successful teams and organizations. But clarity has to go both ways. If you're only clear about what you expect from your team, and never ask what they expect from you, you're leading with half the information you need.
Here's the question I'll leave you with: if you don't know what your team wants and needs, how can you possibly deliver it to them?
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