Let’s talk about expectations. Not the healthy kind. But the impossible kind—the ones we place on people when we’ve silently decided they should be superheroes, mind readers, or magicians.
This shows up all the time in business and in life.
Sometimes, people hire you and instantly put you up on a pedestal. You’re the “expert,” so clearly, you should just know what they want… without them having to explain. No questions. No clarifications. No back-and-forth.
Just poof!—make the perfect thing happen.
But here’s the catch: I’m good at what I do. Really good. But I’m not a mind reader. I can’t automatically intuit your vision from the ethers—especially if you’re not even 100% clear on it yourself. And sometimes we’ve got to try, test, and fail forward together to get it just right.
That’s not failure. That’s process.
Now here’s the deeper layer—because this dynamic? It’s not just about business.
I was talking to my friend Dr. K the other day, and she reminded me that this pattern often has roots in childhood trauma. It’s that moment when we hoped someone—maybe a parent, maybe Santa—would magically know what we wanted, even if we didn’t say it out loud. And when it didn’t happen? The heartbreak was real.
So what do we do? We carry that pain into adulthood. Into our relationships. Into our expectations of others. Into how we show up at work.
The solution?
🌿 Grace.
🌿 Space.
🌿 Curiosity over criticism.
🌿 Assume positive intent.
Not everyone is going to get it right the first time. People are doing the best they can. Disappointment doesn’t have to turn into blame. Sometimes, it can turn into understanding—and growth.
Especially in business, the most magical results come from collaboration, not perfection. And from seeing each other not as superheroes, but as humans.
Let’s get off the pedestal and walk side-by-side instead.
💬 Have you ever caught yourself expecting someone to “just know”? How did that play out?
