Managing expectations

Yesterday, I was reminded of a fact that I know I often unintentionally seem to forget, and which I think a lot of you out there might do too: Managing expectations with the people who really matter to you.

I have been blazing away in my role with Microsoft for the last couple of weeks. There has been heaps and heaps of work to get done combined with having to settle in to all the procedures once again. And boy, has Louise, my wife, noticed.

She was wary from the start about this new adventure fearing a deja vu from the last time I worked thee, and yesterday she cried foul. She felt she saw to little of me, and her belief that this time around it would be different was at an all time low.

This is a stark reminder to me. Because I got her onboard saying that this time it would be different. And I plan it to be. I have had a lot of very open hearted discussions with my manager about it, and we agree on how to solve it. We have just not really gotten there yet.

Of course Louise don’t see this. She’ll have to trust me on it. And trust is not easy when I say one thing and act in another. I need to get back to managing the expectations right. So I have asked her to give me a couple of months and then have the discussion. I have promised her that this time around it really will be different, and now I have to go and prove it.

The point? Remember to manage expectations correctly with the people closest to you. Because its when those are not aligned that it truly feels like a kick in he teeth. And that hurts.