POSITIVE  EXPECTATIONS.  —Leaders who  have  positive  expectations  express  a  belief  or trust in people’s basic worth or ability to perform. Your expectation of your subordinates’ ability to perform affects the climate in which they work. Positive  expectations  are  important  in  motivating subordinates  to  work,  but  they  are  also  important in  advising  and  counseling  sessions. So far, we have only talked about leadership skills  that  deal  with  actions  and  behavior.  The skills in the advising and counseling skill group deal with how you think. Since the way you think affects  your  actions,  your  subordinates  can  see how you view their basic worth. Therefore, they will  know  if  you  have  positive  expectations. To develop positive expectations of a person, follow  five  basic  guidelines: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Focus and build on the person’s strengths, not weaknesses. Express  positive  expectations  about  the person’s  abilities. Listen  and  pay  attention  to  the  person. Emphasize  the  person’s  worth. Have  confidence  in  your  own  ability  to  help the  person  solve  the  problem. REALISTIC  EXPECTATIONS.  —Subordi- nates will have high levels of productivity only if they  consider  your  expectations  to  be  realistic  and achievable. If you encourage subordinates to strive for  unattainable  goals,  they  will  eventually  quit  try- ing to reach those goals. They will then settle for lower productivity than they are capable of achieving. A   leader’s   realistic   expectations   are   those doubts  and  concerns  about  the  ability  of  others to  perform.  Realistic  expectations  help  you  see personal blocks that prevent a person from solving problems or learning how to operate equipment. Expectations  affect  performance.  If  you expect  subordinates  to  perform  poorly,  you  will be  unable  to  hide  that  expectation  from  your subordinates.   Indifferent   and   noncommittal treatment of subordinates usually communicates low  expectations,  which,  in  turn,  leads  to  poor performance.  For  example,  suppose  you  say nothing  about  your  subordinates’  performance. They might then interpret your silence to mean you  are  unhappy  with  their  work  or  that  they cannot  do  a  good  job. Realistic  expectations  and  negative  expecta- tions are completely different. Realistic expecta- tions  involve  objectively  assessing  a  subordinate’s ability.  Negative  expectations  involve  “prejudg- ing, ”  “getting   down   on,”   or   “giving   up   on   a subordinate.”  Negative  expectations  can  lead  to undesirable  performance. UNDERSTANDING.  —Effective   leaders accurately  identify  and  help  others  to  understand what created a problem. They accurately assess the  motives,  thoughts,  and  behavior  patterns  of others and respond appropriately to improve job performance. When  a  personal  problem  causes  a  perform- ance problem, know what resources are available to  help  the  individual.  Your  subordinates  will respect  your  knowledge,  experience,  and  advice and  will  appreciate  any  interest  you  show  in  their welfare. ADVISING   AND   COUNSELING   SES- SIONS.  —This   section   explains   key   points involved   in   effective   advising   and   counseling sessions. It covers types of advising and counseling sessions and the actual process involved in each. of KEY  COUNSELING  POINTS We perform counseling to solve a problem or  to  fulfill  a  need. Determine interview goal before meeting Review  available  records. Give  the  individual  the  facts,  whether  they are pleasant or unpleasant. Be  a  good  listener.  Be  fair. Refer  individual  to  other  resources  for professional  help,  as  needed. Keep   the   individual’s   problem   confi- dential. Help  the  individual  grow  in  self-under- standing. DO  NOT  lose  your  self  control.  The  results could  be  disastrous. DO  NOT  make  promises  you  can’t  keep. DO   NOT   be   quick   to   decide;   not   all problems   are   solvable   in   a   single counseling  session. DO   NOT   forget   to   document   the counseling and have the counselee sign the counseling sheet. You  will  be  involved  with  four  major  types advising and counseling sessions: 1.  Personal 2.  Career 3.  Performance 4.   Disciplinary 2-14