Course 2: Becoming a 7 Cups Leader - (Discussion #1) Welcome to Course 2!
Please note: In order to successfully complete Course 2, you must respond to this post. Your comment/response should answer the questions/shows that you completed the given activity (if any). Read the post carefully and follow the instructions given. Save your responses to a document that you can later refer to. You will need to copy/paste your response in the course evaluation form at the end of each course to show that you have done the work and to refresh your memory.
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Congrats! You made it the second course in the LDP! In this course, we focus on the specific interpersonal skills needed to be a strong leader on 7 Cups, including mastery of communication skills, time management, conflict resolution, stress management and empowering new leaders.
I know if you are here, you have read our values and culture guide. I would like to start off by further emphasizing one value that's required for a leader to be successful here, and that is balancing High Expectations & High Warmth.
Work environments with high expectations and minimal warmth tend to result in companies that are very driven, rule-oriented and risk-averse. The people do not tend to grow as much personally or professionally. On the other hand, workplaces that are high in warmth, but have minimal expectations, tend to struggle. Everyone is happy and feels loved, but not a lot of effective or focused work gets done.
7 Cups is high expectations AND high warmth. We expect a lot from you. You might feel like we think you are more capable than other people have suggested or maybe even more capable than how you see yourself. That is okay. Every person on the team has outperformed and done better than they expected. This is largely because warmth, patience, and trust help people make much more progress than they have in other environments. We have high expectations, but we will provide plenty of encouragement and guidance to help you get there.
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Question: What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth? How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community, and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
Activity: Please reply to 3 of your peers in this thread with encouraging or supportive words!
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@Heather225
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth? How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community, and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
If I have an imbalance of expectations and warmth I don't think I could be able to perform my tasks properly. I would be lacking essential values that are needed in order to be a good leader. Balance is essential since it's usually not good to have too much or too little of something.
1- I think it would negatively impact the community because they would not be getting the support from me they need. Warmth is one of the core values that we need in order to function properly as leaders. We need to be there for those who need us. Having low expectations could already make us assumes things incorrectly.
2- It would negatively impact my work with fellow leaders because that would be unfair to me towards them. They are doing all they can to make our community better.
An imbalance of expectation and warmth can be really draining to me. It might end up me not being able to deliver work on time, not being motivated enough towards the goals, and not being able to collaborate effectively with other listeners.
Having too low of expectations or too little warmth will impact the community negatively. Low expectations can lead to haphazard behaviours, inefficient work, stagnation, negative reviews, unsatisfied members, and so forth. Low warmth can result in a system with a lack of trust and patience, disorientation, dissatisfaction, members feeling like talking to robots, unforgiving, and unfulfilling.
It will change how we work with our fellow leaders negatively. It might make us argumentative, uncoordinated, irresponsible, lacking motivation, unaccountable, unappreciated, unreliable, unsupportive, anxious, and exhausted.
If I have an imbalance of warmth and expectations, I would feel life will never become what I wish to make of it. I will see the community, the people within it through imbalanced sad lenses/eyes and my world will always bwwew sad and struggling.
If I have an imbalance of warmth and expectations with in the work place, I would be turning up to work dragging my feet and with a very low fuel tank. ( low energy) It will show in all my communications verbal, non verbal and even written. To use being a leader here within 7 Cups I would be doing a great disadvantage to the 7 Cups community, other leaders and members. I wouldn't be performing all my daily tasks or planning effectively.
For someone with imbalanced warmth and expectations, you could have goals, dreams and targets etc, however they will never be reached because everthing is a chore or burden on you. OR too difficult, OR you procratinate - leave it to later.
@Cazzy8752 I agree with you, having imbalanced expectations and warmth can lead to poor quality of work. I like how you mentioned having goals and targets but not being able to fulfill them or taking them as a burden due to an imbalance of expectations and warmth.
@Cazzy8752
Very well said! Low expectations and warmth will also affect the whole 7 cups community and listeners and members in it!
@Cazzy8752 flowers for you 
great job for finishing discussion 1 :D
@Cazzy8752 Indeed you have presented a very insightful view of the senario. You are very right imbalances can retard your Personal growth, giving a feel of being stuck!
@Cazzy8752
Very well-explained!
@Cazzy8752
I noticed how you've efficiently made use of the 7 Cups Culture of having an own gas tank as well as keeping the gas tank of community in mind to put your views across. Great work on that!
▪︎What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth?
~ As a 7 cups leader, I think having an imbalance of expectations and warmth will deteriorate the quality of work, because of this imbalance I will not be able to gain trust of fellow leaders and listeners. Having low expectations or low warmth can diminish motivation in the leaders and we will not be able to work together as a team.
▪︎How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community, and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
~ Impact on the community:
Having too low expectations or too low warmth will impact the community's overall growth. Leaders will not be able to do as much work as they would like due to low expectations, there will be no trust or reliability due to low warmth. It will lead to inefficiency of work, no progress or slow progress and least dedication to work.
~ Impact on how I work with leaders:
It will diminish the efficiency of my work with fellow leaders which will lead to no quality work in the community , we won't be able to work together as a team. Leaders won't feel appreciated or acknowledged for their work, no trust will lead to unreliability and would affect my relationship with all the leaders.
@unique73
I completely agree with you, having low expectations does affect the overall growth of community!
@unique73 flowers for you tooo
@unique73
I love the detailed response! I also love how you included low expections means a "deteriorate [in] the quality of work."
@unique73 Woah Such a nice explanation! Indeed imbalances can have a direct inpact on the quality and capablity of one's working skills. One may also feel stuck wile enleashing their full capablity.
@unique73 oh gosh, I am so sorry that I accidently spammed :( It glitched!!
I was going to say, I love how you worded this. It brought some new understanding to me!
@unique73
Lovely response.
@Heather225
Low expectations
- Having low expectations can cause community to not grow to its full potential.
- My peers and/or leaders will think I am not efficient enough to make any kind of impact.
Low warmth
- Low warmth can make a community more like a workplace where everyone is expected to keep working and aiming high without realising what is happening to the people in it.
- My peers/leaders may think of me as a inconsiderate and insensitive person, which will make working together hard for everyone in the team.
@Hope2103 that's true, having low warmth while working in a team makes things really difficult!
@Hope2103
Fabulous.
Agree with what you said !
There would be a setback to the community because everyone is not being as efficient as they should be and not have a good communication level. Balance is key to anything’s success. The expectations that are high should be met with a lot of warmth.
It would impact the community badly because there would be little to not socialization because they would not feel like it would be worth it, and it would be more of an obligation than a fun thing that helps those learn more about each other.
It would make the leaders feel like I do not value them, which creates more stress and tension.
@Brinaa101 argh stress & tension is bad you're right about that one
here, flowers
@Heather225
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth? How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community, and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
Well, high expectations & high warmth are both really important. Too low expectations causes me to not try to strive for more, it keeps me at the same level that I've always been. This means I never improve & never learn more. This means I'd be lagging behind while working with my fellow leaders and not achieving anything more in the community. If i had too little warmth, I'd be driving people away both in the community and my fellow leaders as well.
@milkoreos yeah, having low expectations can cause us to remain where we have always been. Growing through setting high standards or expectations is a great way to go!
How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact...
1.) the community: They will not get as much done and will be lacking motivation due to less encourangement.
2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders: The people around me (other leaders) will not try their hardest in tasks because they will not be rewarded as much, resulting in poor outcomes.
@explore1000 that's true, motivation is important
Effect of too low of expectations, or too little warmth on
1.) the community
1. Too low of expectations will mean poor outcomes for the community. Expectations must be high in order to adapt to the changing needs of the environment and perform adequately. Too little warmth may create an atmosphere where people do not feel as motivated. High warmth acts as a protective factor against negative conditions like stress so it makes a huge difference.
2.) fellow leaders
2. Low expectations among fellow leaders will similarly decrease the performance of the group as a whole. Low warmth with fellow leaders may result in difficulty forming trust among leaders. Not feeling like the team has our back can make it unpleasant to work with others in fear of criticism, apathy, etc.
Both high warmth and expectations complement each other and make for an effective work environment.
@sereneButton43 I accept Too little warmth can lower your confidence while working in the communtiy. A balance is really must for the best community and work outcomes. :)
@sereneButton43
I like how you said how low warmth and expectations would affect the community as a whole. We often think about how things affect us personally or things around us, but not the big picture. It's important to think about how little things, even when we don't think they would be that significant, would affect others and the entire community~
@Heather225
In my views too both expectations and warmth must be in a co-balance to ensure the best out of ourself. In case of imbalance one might face these:
Low Expectations:
- Community: In case of low expectations, one might not be able to come up with their full potential and so as the community as whole. It can also retard personal development at individual level degrading the quality of work and outcomes.
- At personal level, a too low of expectation can lead to distraction towards stuffs other than work related and low prioritising of work. Its like the less is expected from one, the less will they strive to take it seriously and work accordingly.
Low Warmth:
- At community level, warmth is important in binding the community together, a too low of warmth might lead to a lack of teamwork ability and can bring a lot of stress in the community.
- At personal level, a too little warmth might make one uncomfortable in working with the community. It might also bring personal stress along with making the work culture struggling and boring where one might feel an urge to escape it. Meanwhile it will eventually create a communication gap in the society.
@Ashvillium
Both expectations and warmth are signs of caring, so you are right that without a good balance, it shows that we aren't prioritizing and caring about the community, and it becomes an unsafe place to be. Your insights have shown that you know how to balance expectations and warmth, and that makes me feel safer to participate in the community here.
@HannahPalm
I am really glad Hannah! Indeed with fellow participants like you truly makes the community a safer and friendlier place to work together. :)
@Ashvillium
Very true.. A balance of both these components are needed for a great community or a workplace and it is also something that many communities tend to ignore.