I am about to divulge the secret to complete and utter happiness in life. And you’ll be pleased to know it’s absolutely free. What’s more, anyone can be happy — you don’t have to be brilliant, highly creative, rich, or even beautiful. All you have to do is be good at one thing: managing expectations.
Sounds silly, but that’s it. That’s the secret. Managing expectations is everything. It’s the simple, bullet-proof solution for a happy personal life and a successful professional career. Here’s why: If you can set clear expectations and then deliver on them, you’ll be loved by all. Don’t believe me?
Think about your significant other. Do you know what your special someone expects of you? Have you ever asked? Chances are, no. And that’s why you run into to trouble from time to time. Take it from a guy who’s been married for 20 years, the moment you learn what your better half wants and needs from you is the magical moment you can start to manage expectations. She’s happy. You’re happy. Let’s move on to your job.
Managing expectations at work is often a little easier. Your wife probably won’t give you an annual performance review. Your boss, however, will. And if not, you should walk right in and talk about it. See what happens when you tell your boss you want to know what you can do to make him happy. Same goes for your co-workers. Find out what they expect of you. Or better yet, let them know what they should expect of you — and by the way, make sure you set expectations you can meet, and even exceed. Be honest about what you can do and how you can do it. If you over-promise, you’ll quickly disappoint. You may even lose some of the respect you’ve worked so hard to establish. In a nutshell, no one will be happy.
So now that you’re thinking through this whole business of managing expectations, let’s talk about your customers. They have considerable wants and needs. And it’s up to you, as an organization, to address them. So how do you do it? Well, you take everything you’ve just learned about your personal relationships, and apply it to the hundreds, thousands, or millions of people who will ever use your products or services. Only in this case, we’re not going to call it managing expectations. We’re going to call it managing your brand — because that’s exactly what it is.
Brand management is asking customers what’s important to them. It’s about starting conversations, listening closely, and then setting expectations, careful not to overpromise, or underwhelm.
The best brands don’t talk about themselves, they talk about their customers’ needs. They keep the conversation going, and develop new products and services accordingly. And all the while, they are simply managing expectations — and often exceeding them.
So there you have it. That’s the secret. And my hope for you is that you’ll get really good at this one thing — and in doing so, get really good at being happy.
