Expectations play a powerful role in outcomes. For children, most parents ascribe to a mantra of, “Aim for the stars. If you don’t reach them at least you’ll end up among the clouds”.
In the academic environment, teacher expectation about student potential often has a tangible effect on student achievement. The main reason is that students tend to internalize the high or low expectations of their teachers.
In the business environment, a popular approach to championing new initiatives is ‘under promise and over deliver’. In the context of taking on a new initiative like using social media for recruiting, this seems like a good approach. Since the technology is so new and everyone is still trying to figure it out what works and what doesn’t, it seems prudent to set expectations low.
However, very rarely do low bars excite leadership enough to provide the strong support necessary to achieve real success. If a marginal improvement in results is expected, then management questions why they should invest precious time, energy, and resources into the new project.
This creates a self-fulfilling cycle which begins with low expectations, is followed by starvation of resources, and will ultimately result in failure of the new initiative.
If you are championing the use of social media for recruiting within your organization, perhaps it is time to aim for the stars.
–Omowale Casselle (@mysensay)
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About the Author: Omowale Casselle is the co-founder and CEO of mySenSay. We help top employers and next generation leaders discover their shared purpose.