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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Too low expectations
Impact on community: Although people may feel very supported, no one would get anything done. The community would not do anything productive, and there would be little growth.
Impact as a leader: Again, nothing much would be accomplished. There would be little or no progress. Neither me, nor any other leader would do their best.
Too low warmth
Impact on community: Although a lot of progress might be made, nobody would feel supported or cared for. This could lead to a more hostile environment, which could be detrimental to the mental health of people.
Impact as a leader: As a leader, I will not be able to form healthy and supportive relationships with fellow leaders and other community members. It can also lead to people feeling discouraged and unsupported.
@NorahListens Yes, I think you're right on about the lack of growth, progress and support fo rthe various situations.
@Heather225
Question: What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these? An imbalance will always bring out the problem.
How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact 1.) the community
A low expectation will make the performing ineffective, low training and knowledge can even make a listener break rule or give out ill advice. A low expectation also lower attitude toward the impact we made on here.
Little warmth makes others uncomfortable and feels like they're looked down upon. Also, affect teamwork and break the connection in the community.
and 2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
With low expectation and little warmth will irritate others and make other leaders think you are not putting in the effort, may affect their ability as a team
@Heather225
1)Havint too low of expectation
- Impact on the community : me having too low expectations is likely to pull the community down because I wouldn't be part of the overall effort.
- Impact on how i work with my fellow leaders : I think the risk is to always be behind, lagging behind instead of being at the same level as the other leaders.
2)Too little warmth
- Impact on the community : I will be out of step with the important value of High warmth, I will not be in phase with the community. I will undermine an important value of the community
- Impact on how i work with my fellow leaders : I will not be able to establish warm bonds that would allow me to do effective group work.
Question : What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of Warmth & Expectations? 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?
Answer : According to me, if I find an imbalance of Warmth & Expectations, I'll lose track of what is expected from me and what I expect from my role. Satisfaction and engagement will be hampered.
1. Low expectations from a leader will lead to less fruitful projects thus making poor or no contribution to the growth or health of the overall community.
Less warmth on the other hand will take a toll on mental health of the leader thus impacting his or her quality of contribution. Subsequently it wouldn't help the community really grow.
2. Low expectations or low warmth sets an unhealthy work environment among peers too. It creates space for unproductive & toxic interactions. The fellow leaders will either fight amongst themselves or they'll take wrong advantages or create toxic situations that won't help the Leadership team grow further.
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
the community, and
Low Expectations
The community grows through its individual parts along with the trust and understanding of the individual members. I think too low expectations would not let the community to grow to its potential.
Low warmth
Too little warmth would not incentivize any individual effort and also would not provide any motivation in times of need.
impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
Low Warmth
Too little warmth would not inculcate trust among the members which is vital for any community to flourish.
Low Expectations
Too little expectations would mean the work would not done efficiently, which would make fellow leaders lackadaisical.
@helpfuldipper
Wise words.
100% agree !
@Heather225
If me, as a 7 Cups leader
A. Have too low expectations, this will impact
1 The Community
- Directly reducing the quality of service to our Members and Guests.
- Lacking the motivation to improve the skills that make the above possible
- Damaging the reputation of 7Cups as a good, quality emotional support community
2 How I work with fellow leaders
- Disappoint and fail them, creating distrust on me as someone you cant count on
- Reduce efficiency, as this hampers delegation and specialization of work
- Reduce goal-oriented mutual understanding and energy. Kill the we are on the same boat to get to that point, so let`s row at full steam
- Fail at achieving mutually agreed goals.
- Demoralizing the group by not achieving its goals (this I know from experience, is devastating for a group)
B. Having too little warmth
1. The community
- To Members, lack of warmth equals lack of help. Would damage them and would damage the mission of 7Cups.
- To the community of Leaders, warmth is like the energy of the ecosystem where we thrive. We are unpaid volunteers, we are here not only to fulfill a mission but also to belong to a loving, caring community. We all have to contribute to refill this energy. Failing to do so would be damaging to the community, the humane, loving ecosystem as such.
2 Work with fellow leaders.
- Fellow leaders are our sisters and brothers here. We are all volunteers for a noble cause. We follow guidelines and instructions from them, (or give them, its not my case) in this spirit. In our interactions, we emphasize how much we love them, respect them and appreciate their volunteer efforts. Lacking to do so, would damage their motivation to make the effort needed to accomplish goals, so our interactions will be less effective. Even worse, will be damaging to them as human beings, a most unjust, cruel, and immoral thing perpetrated against such a valuable person.
@WelcomeToChat
That's a very impressive answer with lots of insight!
@amiablePeace77
Thank you !
@Heather225
Low expectations can make people feel not motivated or encouraged. The community might end up not achieving goals and a leader might feel not achieving anything either. Little warmth puts up walls, make a community less caring for each other, less supportive and prevents bonding.
@amiablePeace77 those seem to be a correct assessment of the impact. Glad you are the kind of person trying to achieve a balance.
@Heather225
having low expectations would result in
1) not managing to achieve my milestones and wouldn't manage to grow in the community.
2) other leaders would think i am unable to work and things would turn negatively.
having low warmth would result in
1) people not growing professionally and it would destroy the community.
2) fellow leaders would feel unloved and like i don't value the conversation.
Low expectations:
1) Impact on community: Having low expectations would decrease the amount of actual work being done and thereby the work we do would not be productive at all.
2) Impact on work with fellow leaders: It would decrease the amount of reliability that we have as a team on each other and increase the work load and stress on the rest of the team. Everyone as a part of a team should be able to rely on each other or else the whole pyramid falls down if even a single person isn't doing their job.
Low warmth:
1) Impact on community: In a community, especially like 7 Cups, warmth is something that is very essential. The lack of it causes an unsupportive environment which goes against the goals of our community.
2) Impact on work with fellow leaders: Lack on warmth when working with fellow leaders could give rise to conflicts and misunderstandings which are to be avoided in order to maintain a peaceful and loving relationship with all our fellow leaders in order to achieve goals efficiently.
An imbalance overall would lead to less support.
1) Too low of expecations leads to things being missed, people not being responded to, etc. and less trust overall in terms of what one of the community can obtain from the areas I cover. To low of warmth means would lead to community members not feeling supported with the responses they recieve.
2) Too low of expecations means that other leaders are less likely to rely on each other, or to expect events to occur. To low of warmth reduces the fun we can have together while achieveing things, and other leaders may be hesitent to reach out or ask for coverage when needing self care.
