The Silent Killer of Every Hire: Unspoken Expectations
Bob expected Sally to deliver the report on time. The deadline passed. No report. No update. No communication.
What happened? Both made assumptions. Both had different expectations. Neither spoke up.
This scenario plays out thousands of times a day in organizations everywhere - with devastating results.
Unmet expectations destroy trust, kill productivity, and turn good hires into regrettable ones.
The root cause? Fear.
Fear of conflict. Fear of looking incompetent. Fear of disappointing others. So, people stay silent, make assumptions, and let expectations drift until something breaks.
Here's how to fix it.
Leadership consultant Jud Boies developed a powerful solution over 20 years ago: Written Expectations.
It's simple. Before work begins, two people explicitly define:
How they'll communicate.
What success looks like.
When and how they'll review progress.
How they'll handle problems.
Written expectations remove assumptions. They create clarity. They give both parties permission to speak up when something isn't working.
This works everywhere:
Manager and direct report
Team members working together
Contractors and clients
Even personal relationships
In Hire the Best coaching, we teach you how to use Written Expectations with every new hire - and throughout your organization. When expectations are clear from day one, trust builds faster, performance improves, and costly misunderstandings vanish.
The best part? This same discipline prevents you from making assumptions during hiring, too.
What expectations have you been assuming instead of confirming?
