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?
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Low expectations:
Community:
There would be a problem of listeners not doing their best so the community would be badly affected by it.
My fellow listeners:
They would be less sure that they can believe in me as I would not be doing my best.
Low Warmth:
Community:
People would feel less welcomed and at home and believe less in this site which would cause the site to be less effective in its purpose.
My fellow listeners:
We would feel like what is expected from us is more something we must do than something we want to do which would lower our want to do things and productivity.
@Ginevra962
I definitely agree with that, it was very insightful.
I believe, having too little expectations can of course lead to a slowness in the overall growth of the group and foster procrastination, but it can also lead to a lack of faith, especially from those who sets high expectations for themselves, in the group itself.
As for too low in warmth, if would definitely create a community that's uncollaborative and cold.
@Heather225
i.) Having little warmth would not serve the purpose of the platform in the first place.
ii.) Having low expectations wouldn’t push the fellow leaders and ourselves to go an extra mile and we’re all a family in here and sense of low warmth would do more harm than good.
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these? 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?
1. the community is a team made of people. If the productivity of each person is low and no one finishes their work, there will be a butterfly effect, affecting the whole community as well. In the end, the community will not succeed either if expectations are too low. If there's too little warmth, everyone in the community will just be cold towards one another, which can generate negative emotions in each person e.g. jealousy, unhealthy competitiveness, etc. Hence, the community can't succeed either if we don't work together or aren't caring towards each other.
2. Having too low of expectations will lower the overall quality of work of the team in general. Moreover, it gives a negative impression to the other team members that you don't care about the work and you just want to get it over and done with. With too little warmth, it can also affect the atmosphere of the team and can affect the quality of the work. A team requires everyone to help each other so that everyone can succeed.
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Such a great response! I agree with every statement of yours!
Totally agree with the butterfly effect.. such great points you have made! Well said! @Alwaysthereforyou28
@Alwaysthereforyou28
The essence of the community and platform rightly captured I feel.
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Such a great answer <3
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Really a nice answer!
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Very good constructive words Always. Thanks for all your hard work so far and good luck with the course
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Great responce, you summarise the question perfectly 
@Alwaysthereforyou28 I agree!
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Great response :)
Especially the part about the butterfly effect. Gives something to think about
@Alwaysthereforyou28
Great statement! An amazing post indeed
@Heather225
As a 7Cups leader,
Having low expectations and high warmth – will create a lack of motivation to talk and help people in the community.
With fellow leaders, there will be discrepancies in communication and work to be done will become stagnant.
Having low warmth and high expectations – there will be no sense of compassion or encouragement shown in the community and focus will be only on solving problems
With fellow leaders, there will be no meaningful bonds between one another which will lead to no personal growth.
@generousDiamond35
I agree with what your saying about not having compassion for others that are around us.
@generousDiamond35 yes it is important to try to be all things to all people. For me that means lowering my own expectations and increasing my compassion for others.
@generousDiamond35
i agree with everything you have said. Great post and well said!
@generousDiamond35
I agree with you here. Thats a perfectly stated answer.
@generousDiamond35
Ttally agree with all you have said <3
@generousDiamond35
These are great examples of what could happen if there was no balance. I cannot imagine working without having meaningful bonds with fellow team members. <3
@generousDiamond35
These are great examples, I agree with these and actually can see these in some places I have worked previously.
@generousDiamond35
I agree with everything that you said.
Thanks a lot for sharing your response. Wish you the best! <3
@generousDiamond35
I agree with your response!
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these? 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?
Low expectations
1.) impacts the community because I am not engaged and cannot be there fully for what is expected of me
2.) impacts how I work with my fellow leaders because I cannot help them improve and grow if I don't provide feedback or positive reinforcement, or show any interest towards them
Little warmth
1.) impacts the community because they may not feel safe around me, and will be more inclined to not trust me and keep things to themselves
2.) impacts how I work with my fellow leaders because I'll come off as someone who seems very judgy and un-empathetic, and instead of being a close family it'll be disjointed and dysfunctional
@BeautifulMasterpiece That's a great and easily understood way to put it!
@BeautifulMasterpiece
I agree with your response! Well explained
@BeautifulMasterpiece
That's a fine way to put it. It was a great read.
@BeautifulMasterpiece
I love the way you put it in terms to make it really easy to understand and accessible to everyone! 🙂
@BeautifulMasterpiece
Thanks for your answers. You are doing good work here and hope to hear more from you as the course continues.
@BeautifulMasterpiece
I agree, 7Cups should be a close family. I love that way you described 7Cups
What would happen if a leader had imbalance with having little warmth the community would start to fall apart as the leaders build the structure to what the communtiy has. From there we would see people not caring about the rules and also people feeling that they can't get supported in what they're doing in their lives. Making it an endless cycle for getting support which would push people away mostly. This would impact everyone as then there would be no one to support and it would be just a complete mess.
@Asherwolfice
I totally agree! An imbalance of those might impact the whole community making it a less desirable place
@Asherwolfice
Yes! And we want to avoid the complete mess at all costs! 😂
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these? 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?
Having too low expectations will not give enough of a push to get things done, and nobody will be motivated to see results in the community. Low warmth doesn't attract anyone to the community, and there isn't any enthusiasm. Working with fellow leaders, setting goals and having high expectations gives something to aim for to work together and high warmth ensures quality collaboration
@Dinoprincess12
So true! Low expectations result to less motivation and low warmth causes less enthusiasm among the people 
@Dinoprincess12
I completely agree, and appreciate how simple you sounded. It is definitely motivating to have a workplace that is high warmth and high expectations.
@Heather225
High expectations and high warmth is what makes the 7cups community special.
Expectations
1. Low expectations means that we don't put challenges to improve ourselves, while we also expect less from others. This has a result to not be the best of ourselves and not offering as much as we could to the community, while we stay stagnant and not improving ourselves. In long-term this makes our work less interesting for ourselves and not as helpful as it could for others that need us. Things evolve and we need to adjust and evolve as well because if we stay stagnant, we will be less and less effective.
2. As leaders, apart from being an example to the community, we are also expected to guide other listeners and members. If we have too low expectations we may misguide someone and hold them back, while our teamwork with other listeners may not be as effective and cause misunderstandings. As a result this may have a negative impact to the community because our work is challenging and we need to accept that before making commitments.
Warmth
1. Warmth means a lot of things inclueding empathy, copmassion and understanding. Without these values it's hard for someone to trust us and it's also hard to help and encourage them to be their best selves. The climate will be more unpleasant which is far away from what we want which is others to feel safe and comfortable to be able to grow and overcome difficulties.
2. In cooperation with others, the lack of warmth can cause conflicts and ineffectiveness of the team. Reaching a goal will be harder vecause there will not be trust and kindness within the team. Putting our strength togethe rin the team to boost the one that needs it the most at a time is making the whole team succeed and this can't be achieved without warmth and understanding.
@SofiaT2000 well said! warmth is definitely important when trust is involved - we want members to trust that we truly care and want to help when they come to us.
@SofiaT2000
I agree, and appreciate how you helped make me think more about how special 7cups truly is. I never thought of expectations as a challenge, and the way we want to continue pushing forward and improve, truly is a good feeling.
@SofiaT2000
Great point! I love that you point out the relationship between warmth and trust, they definitely go together and are essential for members in the community to share them with each other!
Hi @SofiaT2000! I love how well thought out and detailed your response is. I really enjoyed reading it and agree with the points you brought up. Well done!
@Heather225
High expectations and high warmth is what makes the 7cups community special.
Expectations
1. Low expectations means that we don't put challenges to improve ourselves, while we also expect less from others. This has a result to not be the best of ourselves and not offering as much as we could to the community, while we stay stagnant and not improving ourselves. In long-term this makes our work less interesting for ourselves and not as helpful as it could for others that need us. Things evolve and we need to adjust and evolve as well because if we stay stagnant, we will be less and less effective.
2. As leaders, apart from being an example to the community, we are also expected to guide other listeners and members. If we have too low expectations we may misguide someone and hold them back, while our teamwork with other listeners may not be as effective and cause misunderstandings. As a result this may have a negative impact to the community because our work is challenging and we need to accept that before making commitments.
Warmth
1. Warmth means a lot of things including empathy, compassion and understanding. Without these values it's hard for someone to trust us and it's also hard to help and encourage them to be their best selves. The climate will be more unpleasant which is far away from what we want which is others to feel safe and comfortable to be able to grow and overcome difficulties.
2. In cooperation with others, the lack of warmth can cause conflicts and ineffectiveness of the team. Reaching a goal will be harder because there will not be trust and kindness within the team. Putting our strength together in the team to boost the one that needs it the most at a time is making the whole team succeed and this can't be achieved without warmth and understanding.
@SofiaT2000 I love that first one as well as your answers. thank you for sharing them