In the plot of the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a shape-shifting T-1000 Terminator model is sent from the future to kill young John Connor, who is destined to lead the human race to triumph over the robots. The original Terminator—a revamped T-800 model played by Arnold Schwarzenegger—has been sent back to protect John.
Audiences accept this premise because it is established early in the film, plus many of our expectations were formed by the original Terminator movie.
This is how people work: we live by certain expectations, and once they are set in our minds, it takes a lot to change them. If halfway through Terminator 2, there was a plot twist that introduced leprechauns with magical powers to defeat Terminators, the audience would laugh and walk out of the theater. Such a twist would be inconsistent with our expectations.
Too often, leaders ignore this fact however.
Much of what leadership teams discuss among themselves never gets communicated to the vast majority of employees, so a gap opens between leaders and everyone else. Employees keep operating based on expectations that are now outdated or just plain wrong, and the implications are significant.
One of the things I keep hearing leaders say is “As soon as things slow down…” Not to be a Debby Downer, but I’m not sure things are going to slow down any time soon. Inflation, supply chain issues, labor shortages, are just a few of the novel and vexing challenges we face today as we attempt to move past the pandemic. Understandable that we all want relief, but as leaders we have to be honest with ourselves so that we can be candid with our employees, customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders. Optimism has its place in leadership but so does realism.
So I offer you these questions for reflection:
- Have hope and “pandemic fatigue” gotten ahead of reality?
- Have I potentially under-estimated the severity or duration of the current challenges?
- Would another curve ball (or two) later this year significantly hamper our ability to deliver on our key commitments and objectives for 2021?
If the answer to any of these is yes, you may be setting yourself and others up for disappointment and therefore, now would be a good time to adjust expectations and ensure the right strategies, priorities and plans are in place throughout the organization.