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