Just shy of my 23rd birthday I shifted directions in my vocational life. I accepted a position selling vacuum cleaners – in homes. Actually, I was quite good at it and was promoted to sales trainer within one month, though I had never been comfortable speaking in front of a group of people. Within about 8 months I had purchased a franchise and was running the regional office in Nashville, TN.
At one of the company annual meetings, speaking with some of the higher ups who had been with the company several years, a bit of information was shared that I had no previous knowledge. It was revealed that at the time I started with the company, office personnel would discreetly wager on when new recruits would “wash-out” or quit the company.
All bets were against me. I was not expected to make it out of the five-day initial training. When I did graduate, the bets were how many (less than five) sales calls would I make before hanging it up and walking away. As they shared this information the three were laughing, because, at the time of my hiring no one believed I would make it. Honestly, without the grace of God, I would not have made it through.
Would you agree that our mindset, in general, is that we do not expect great things from others? In particular, let us consider your family members, close associates at work, and friends. While you may certainly desire others (your children especially) to do great things, oftentimes our expectation mindset falls far short of our desires.
Be it in public schools or private, in church settings or the workplace, our expectation mindset (our private thoughts) is seldom that those around us are up to great things. And in these same settings, we believe our private thoughts do not matter.
In reality, what you think has a powerful impact on everyone you meet and interact with. Your thoughts are being continuously communicated to those in front of you. What you think is conveyed through your facial expressions, shoulder, arm, and hand movements. Even your eyes tell the story of your thoughts. Some people try to cover these up, but many of them are compulsory, and involuntary.
Perhaps I could read the signals being given off by these office personnel when I started with the company and set out to prove them wrong. Whether or not this is true, I had people within the organization who believed I could make it. And it was their mindset expectation that prevailed. I say their mindset instead of my own, because their positive actions toward me helped me establish my mindset for success.
Your expectation mindset for yourself and others is visible to those you spend time with. What are you communicating? Will your mindset lead to body language that says, “I know you can be a success!”?
What will you do today to improve your mindset expectation of others?
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George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life