We don’t plan for it to happen, but sometimes we just fall short. We fail to meet the expectations that others have of us. It’s a horrible feeling to know that you’ve let someone down. Particularly when you serve and respect them.
Can you relate? You’ve strategized and allocated resources to accommodate the needs of so many in your world; your employer, family, and friends. Despite your heartfelt intentions, you’ve been put on notice that you’ve let them down. The crushing feeling overwhelms you as reality sets in. You are fallible! But is it really a failure? I would argue that it’s only a failure if you fail to learn and implement a change to improve. I’m learning to manage expectations so that they don’t manage me.
If I had a nickel for every time I let someone down I would be a millionaire! The blow to my ego never fades. But I’ve resolved that it’s just a facet of life. After years of playing defense I’m finally playing offense. I ensure that every time I’ve failed to meet the expectations of myself or others I journal the path and identify a learning experience.
Some will question my sanity for writing this public confession. But the reality is, sometimes we fall short. It isn’t our intention. But the cold hard facts remain; despite our best intentions, we aren’t going to be all things to all people. And oftentimes we need to accept the responsibility, learn from it and make improvements.
Earlier this month I failed to meet the expectations of several ISFSI members. I’ve officially spent hours and hours beating myself up for what I could have done better. As of today, I’ve officially resolved that their disappointment in my ability to meet their expectations isn’t a reflection on my attempts to do so. And most importantly it doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop trying to meet future expectations. In fact, I wish I could walk a mile in each of your shoes. Perhaps if I could achieve this “BHAG” (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) I would minimize the risk of failing you.
As I journaled the events leading up to my failure to meet these member’s expectations I have documented the following lessons for the future.
Communicate: I need to be reaching out to our members more often and communicate with you all on how to maximize your membership. I need to find out where we are meeting your expectations and where we are currently falling short.
Anticipate Problems: This may seem as though it’s bringing out the pessimist in me, but strategizing the impending catastrophe will allow me to allocate resources and time to ensure it doesn’t happen.
Identify Bias: What are our member’s preconceptions and how are these impacting the expectations they have? If we can anticipate what our members are expecting from us we can position ourselves to deliver. Moreover, we need to establish and maintain an avenue of communications for you to communicate those preconceptions so we can address them in a proactive fashion.
If I can leave our membership with one final thought it would be a request to reach out to me and share your expectations so that we have the opportunity to work with you to meet them. And lastly, don’t confuse falling short with failure. Strive to be better than you were today and anticipate the good in people. I suspect that all of us want to do what is right and good for this profession and for those we serve.