Course 2: Becoming a 7 Cups Leader - (Discussion #1) Welcome to Course 2!

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?

Too low of expection will lead people to never get out of their comfort zones. On my personal level I will start to find this site boring and unworthy of my attention.

Too Little warmth will make everything professional and I think this site will lose its meaning and motive for which it was made of. Too little warmth on my personal level would hurt me if I make a mistake and would make me take less risks.

Question: 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?

If I have too low expectations, I could become complacent, therefore not being as helpful to my community and not having as much personal growth. If I have low expectations for others, that could be discouraging and might mean I'm not helping their growth. If I have too little warmth for myself, I can become disheartened with my role. If I have too little warmth for others, it make interactions more difficult. High expectations and high warmth lead to an environment people can thrive in.

Having too low of expectations:

As a leader of 7 Cups, having too low of expectations can cause your lack of motivation to work and low expectations to your work. The mood you passed on to the members and the other listeners will also be negative and drag. That might impact them as well. Fellow leaders have to work more if you keep dragging.

Having too low of warmth:

The community can absolutely feel your lack of warmth. They might feel that the whole community is lack of warmth as well, that is not part of 7 Cups' culture. You are polluting this environment for all people who are here either seeking for help or to help. For fellow leaders, because this is an online environment, so your lack of warmth will create a barrier between you and other leaders, that can cause drag of work and impact the whole community a lot.

@Heather225

What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these?

As a 7 cups leader, I think an imbalance with these two could negatively impact my performance on 7 cups. I would be unaware of what the leaders and members expect of me and that would yield poor results because of lack of effort. I would also be discouraged while doing good work for the community as I wouldn't get enough support or warmth/ have people believe that I am capable of good work. This might reduce the responsibility given to me and hence result in troubled work. I may no longer feel motivated to do my work in a good, timely manner and not be able to grow with the community. Overall, an imbalance in this system could have really negative impacts for me as a listener on 7 cups as well.

How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact

1.) the community

Having either low warmth or expectation can reduce the efficiency of people in the community. It is important for all members, listeners and leaders to work with coordination and comfort, like a well-oiled machine and this could slow down that process and lead to a breakdown in the community. Maybe even weaken the support system of the community

2.) how you work with your fellow leaders

Working with others in the community would no longer be productive, it would result in poor relationships and people would have great difficulty in trusting each other with the work. It could create an imbalance for everyone, lead to failure and lack of accountability between people.

@Heather225

How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community
I think that having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact the community negatively. If we are not expected to have a specific standard, then people will not work toward having any sort of standard. Too little warmth, and people who truly need us will not get the support they need during the times they need it most. It would be devastating to our work on 7 Cups.

and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
By having low expectations of leaders, we cannot expect forward progress. Also, too little of warmth will lead to gossiping, mistrust of leaders, and a people who do not stick around. Even good leaders, with little warmth or no expectations, will leave, due to having a feeling of "going nowhere" or being "stuck" in a negative pattern, unable to trust or expand their horizons.

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) With too little expectations, I would not strive to try as hard, and I would not interact with the community as often as I do now. With too little warmth, the community would feel brushed aside and hurt from my words.

2) With too little expectations, working with my fellow leaders would be difficult. I would not know what was expected of me, and would feel lost and confused. Too little warmth would cause leaders to feel put off by me.

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.) Having too low expectations would affect our community as we might have less motivation, or not see a reason to work as hard at our goals. Having too little warmth could make community members feel less safe and uncomfortable, and they might not feel as excited or passionate being a part of this community, instead they might feel alone.

2.) Having low expectations might impact how I work with my fellow leaders as we might feel less passionate and dedicated about our volunteer work, and we might not be accountable. Having low warmth could just make having a good relationship with fellow leaders difficult, and could make us feel like we are not appreciated.

@Heather225

When it comes to being a 7 Cups Leader:

Low Expectations = 1) Having low expectations will cause us as leaders to not know what is needed to support others which contributes to not being motivated to do our part in helping others or contribute to projects. having high expectations pushes people to contribute on a greater scale. 2) Having low expectations will cause me to not be motivated to want to improve myself and not want to push myself

Low Warmth = 1) Having low on warmth will hinder the motivation we have when it comes to supporting others in the community, it will also deter people from being open about their issues. 2) having low warmth will keep me from being happy about doing my part on 7 Cups. Helping others is not easy so it takes high warmth to be able to have the headspace to be of assistance.

Question: 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?

When one places high expectation in a friendly way and through encouragement on oneself or others, then the person on whom the expectation is placed (in a friendly manner) feels valued. This increases mutual-trust and mutual-respect between people.

If I keep low expectations from myself, then my contribution as a leader to the 7 Cups (or in any organization) would not be satisfactory. Non-satisfactory work would negatively impact the community of 7 Cups. Members who come on 7 Cups for emotional support would lose trust on 7 Cups if the work of 7 Cups leader is not satisfactory. Fellow leaders too would lose trust in me if my work is not up to the mark (as a result of me keeping low-expectation from myself). This loss of trust in the community and fellow leaders would start a negative spiral which would be pernicious for the 7 Cups culture and its community.

If I keep too little warmth, then members in the community and fellow leaders would hesitate to approach me. There may exist problems or situations where I can contribute, but because I have too little warmth, fellow leaders and members in the community would hesitate to approach me. This would affect the ability of the community in confronting any problem or situation which, in turn, would negatively impact the work and brand image of 7 Cups.
Members come to 7 Cups for emotional support. With too little warmth, listeners and leaders cannot stay true to the mission of 7 Cups.

If I, as a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these, then, this would affect the ability of 7 Cups to work satisfactory, the trust of members and fellow members on me. This, as a consequence, would affect the brand image of 7 Cups.

Too Low Expectations:

Community impact: There wouldnt be a lot of motivation from the community Very little involvement. No one would know what they should be working on. There would be no progress.

Relationships with other leaders: The relationship with other leaders might be strained because they may feel like Im not pulling my weight or doing my part. They may also ultimately decide that they dont want to work with me.

Too Low Warmth:

Community impact: Other listeners may feel intimidated by me and not want to come to me for support or feedback. There also might lack structure and there wouldnt be a lot of progress made.

Relationships with other leaders: The relationships with fellow leaders would lack professionalism, and there wouldnt be any accountability. People would feel good and connected, but not a lot would get done.