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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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?
The community: We don't do our best work when we're cold or unreliable, members deserve consistent support.
Within teams: No one wants to be on a cold, uncommunicative team
@WarmLightXO
You're right. No one wants to be in cold un-communicative teams. You have highlighted the need for both high warmth and high expectations in an organisation or a community
@Heather225
Low expectations would result in:
1. Not letting the community thrive to it's full potential.
2. Me coming off as unreliable which would impact the work in a negative way
having low warmth would result in:
1. a feeling that activity or work for the community is more like an obligation when there's not really a nice environment.
2. Fellow leaders can get the sense there's a lack of understanding or that there's no motivation do so some work.
@Ninziesss
I agree with your first point explained under the impact of having low warmth in a community. Your answer was concise and to the point
@Heather225
Q1: What do you think happens if you, a 7 cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth?:
A: if a leader on 7 cups is having an imbalance of expectations and warmth it will result that the work won’t get done efficiently and that it won’t allow the group to realize that they can do much more and because of the imbalance of expectations and warmth they won’t grow to their full potential, and if the imbalance continues it will lead to a setback for the community.
Q2: How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact the community?:
A: If the leader has low/minimal expectations but high warmt, the community tends to struggle even though that it has high warmth and that this community is happy and feeling loved there are downsides to this community and those are: that the work that needs to get done in this community with the low/minimal expectations wouldn’t be a lot of effective work for the community or it didn’t focus on the focused areas that this community is supposed to work on.
And it’s similar in a community with high expectations and low/minimal warmth, because this community will be very driven but these people won’t reach their potential, this is because the community has low/minimal warmth.
Q3: How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact how you work with your fellow leaders?:
A: It can have an impact in different ways. Other leaders would think that I’m not a reliable person and that if they needed help they wouldn’t ask me because they wouldn’t be able to rely or count on me, this will result in having trouble in socializing and that you feel like you don’t belong in the community and this will result in having the feeling that you need to do the work and not bc you want too. Leaders can also think that I don’t care about their projects or work.
- Lena
@kenzolena
I agree with your points. Your answers were well descriptive.
@kenzolena
You've made very good points, Lena.
@Heather225
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of expectations and warmth?
Having an imbalance of expectations can cause us to stop being driven to grow, eventually to stagnate in our roles, and having an imbalance of warmth can cause us to feel frustrated and purposeless as we do fulfil our roles as we don't have enough support to step up or overcome the bend in the road.
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) As a community, having low expectations or low warmth can make the community go backwards in terms of growth as it does not provide any space for the right encouragement for the members to grow
2) Low expectations and low warmth can give rise to lesser ideas to improve and raise the community as the leaders themselves do not get the drive to be competent or to push themselves for the community
@blissfulForest7074
Yes, I agree that low expectations and low warmth can lead to fewer ideas to improve and elevate the community because the leaders themselves do not have the drive to be competent or committed to the community.
@blissfulForest7074
i totally think both of those can bring a community backward and stoped growth.
@Heather225
1) The imbalance of warmth or expectations will result in an inefficient community which will neither evolve and better itself nor the members of that community.
Low expectations will push everyone in the comfort zone and nobody will be able to thrive. As for too little warmth, it will infuse insecurity in all, resulting in the much-dreaded fear of failure.
2) If a situation of this sort arises the team will end up losing confidence and respect for the leader.
@StarrrGirl20
Well said, I agree, especially when you said that low expectations push everyone into their comfort zone.
Fantastic job @StarrrGirl20 showing your understanding of the discussion as well as showing your capability as an effective leader!
Two of my favorite statements you made were "Low expectations will push everyone in the comfort zone and nobody will be able to thrive." and "the team will end up losing confidence and respect for the leader." for question 2. Good job!
@StarrrGirl20
Well said! That is all so true.
@StarrrGirl20
Great Wording!
@Heather225
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these?
If a 7 Cups leader has an imbalance in any of these traits, the team will struggle and lose hope in their leader, plus my teammates will lose trust in me, and I'll have a hard time leading. It could also create a toxic work environment if things are not managed well, and that creates discomfort.
How do you think having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact
1.) the community
If expectations are not met, the team would be inefficient and people would lose confidence in me as a leader, and we would not be able to reach our full potential. If expectations are not met, there could be misunderstandings and conflict, which would also cause people to not feel valued or wanted.
2.) impact how you work with your fellow leaders?
The work will not have quality, things cannot be managed together if we do not achieve what we have to do in time, and procrastination occurs.
@Helpingheart23
I really like your focus on your team having confidence and trust in you as a leader, that's so important. And what's even better that this is not a selfish focus, as you stated this is important for "us to reach reach our full potential". Excellent job!
@Helpingheart23. Thank you for your insightful words. I have hope that others recognize that sometimes we do not achieve all of our goals on here but that is okay and the 🎯 is large enough to get more bullseyes in the future discussions.
@Helpingheart23 Yes, losing confidence from your leaders is one of things that can happen, and we must surely avoid that as working as a team helps us to deal things with more efficiency
@Heather225
What do you think happens if you, a 7 Cups leader, have an imbalance of these?
An imbalanced leader might focuses solely on getting the job done instead of using the job as a way to help their people develop new competencies and skills. so people who follow him/her might not notice this and so there is no any sign of growth.
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?
Community:
In my opinion , to have low expectations can limit the community's ability to grow.
Fellow Leaders:
If there's a limit of warmth I personally tend to not enjoy it as much. I think this happens to other leaders as well. its like getting the same amount of warmth and mean while giving others the same vibes can make a great difference , which its going to be full of love and joy.
@niceworldmnd these are such thoughtful and good points!
@niceworldmnd
You've answered this so thoroughly. I'm truly impressed!
@niceworldmnd I agree that by just following and getting the job done we may not develop our emotional center and have an exceptional and our own locus of control.
@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'm having imbalance of expectations and warmth, I think this will affect my productivity, less work will get done with low expectations and high warmth for instance. More work will get done, but me feeling burnt-out and running out of energy with high expectations and low warmth. Both are extremely important together.
I think this will cause the community to be inconsistent, unable to be a welcoming and fulfilling place.
If I'm having too little warmth or low expectations that will result a bad attitude with fellow leaders, maybe not cooperating to achieve our goal.
@Here4good74
You have a wonderful profile photo and username! :) Your focus on productivity and your clear understanding of the discussion already show how great you will be/are as a Leader :)
@SirenOfSerenity aw thank you so much ♥️
@Here4good74
That's a nice sum up of your answers. You're doing great!
@Here4good74
thode are awesome examples of low expectations and low warmth. On ourselves low expectations will not get us as far as we can and low warmth will has experience a breakdown. In the community things won’t be stable and between leaders tension can rise.
@Here4good74 Burning out or less productivity definitely affects our tasks, and we cannot contribute as much as we want to. Thank you for mentioning that
@Here4good74
i totally agree with all the points you brought up.
@Heather225
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?
- An imbalance of expectations and warmth causes a breakdown in the overall objective. We cannot have high expectations without providing high warmth as the support, encouragement and empowerment to do so.
- Having too low of expectations, or too little warmth, will impact:
1.) The community negatively, as it sets an overall tone of too little warmth and unclear/unsupported expectations for the community.
and 2.) Negatively impact how you work with your fellow leaders. Low warmth/support and low/unclear expectations makes it difficult to work together more cohesively and in an enjoyable manner.
@SirenOfSerenity
Hey again! You've given a wonderful and apt answer. I'm so glad to have you as my peer! Let's enjoy this process.
@SirenOfSerenity
i like how you mentioned unclear expectations because for an effective team and community and self we need those clear objectives and how we’ll get there. Low expectations will make things too easy in the sense that no one will put enough effort to make something better than it already is and low warmth will make things too hard for people to keep up all the energy they’re using and investing.
@Mari228 I agree on the importance of insight gathering and reflection. It’s what makes us empathetic.
@SirenOfSerenity I agree siren! we must avoid the negativity between our members/fellow listeners and work as a team. For this we need to have high expectations and also high warmth for us to function more efficiently and contribute to this community in a better way
@SirenOfSerenity
Siren, as always, a very powerful and accurate message as always and so very proud to have you have my mentor.
PREWARNING! I love trees!
Sirens response to this post is very accurate and correct, and details the main initial factors of 7 cups, and I have studied 7 cups intensely to make sure it is good for me, but I'm sure there's thing I haven't even seen because there is so much to see.
WARNING😂 | Imagine a tree, it's huge, it's beautiful and it's absolutely blossoming, the branches that adjoin is our amazing members who come here to find love, support, encouragement, advice or to look for resources, at times, they may be in times of great distress which is why it is important to follow up on all the information and advice given by everyone to manage these situations to protect not only yourself but your fellow peers.
Then we come to the bark of the tree, or the backbone, this is @GlenM (Sorry dude), this holds everything together along with all those lovely people working alongside him to keep 7 cups afloat and strengthening the tree as a whole.
At the bottom is the ground and roots, this is us as leaders, and I'm not sure what you know about roots but it is very important when you look at most situations in your life, trees help me to do this.
The roots of a tree need some love and care which is given by Glen and his guys who are up there in the admin roles (not to discredit anyone by the way, we are ALL EQUAL), the roots of a tree need water (given by the rain), air and a good solid ground with comfortable and suitable surroundings.
Without all these components in the ground that tree will deteriorate and ultimately die so us, as leaders, need to make sure the roots are good and healthy, and this is how we strengthen everything above, this isn't saying we're down in the ground and rubbish, what it means is that we, as the roots, are the ultimate power, 7 cups needs us to work together, whilst also working alone, ask for help when needed, because this isn't the real world, everyone here literally cares to the bottom of their hearts and I've never EVER met such lovely, kind and caring people (Damn crying now) oh well, carry on.
by doing this, we keep the roots strong and healthy, we can travel up to the backbone and to the branches to build and grow 7 cups.
Ultimately, the members are the blossom of the tree (beautiful people too!) and we need to ensure that all those resources match the members needs and display what they want and need, we can do this simply by observation or communication, if we don't do that, the blossom will fall like it's autumn and the branches will be bare.
Thanks for reading.
NOTE: I really have to say that Siren is the most loving, compassionate, affectionate person I have ever met, she has picked me back up so many times and boosted me to succeed when all I've seen is failure, she is such an incredible person, and (I mean this in the friendliest way possible) I love you so much and thank you for being so amazing, because I also believe you will grow even further in 7 cups, @GlenM please give Siren a reward (even just a badge) because she is an absolute star.
Side note: You are all stars, everyone registered on 7 cups, and for my peers in the LDP and GLDD programs, you can do this! but please ask for help from the mentors (link is in your emails) because they really do care about you and want you to succeed.
I'm going to stop now before I become an emotional wreck and sorry for hijacking your post @SirenOfSerenity
@iCareUK
Your tree & roots example makes me think more and expand on this concept. You are so right, well said!
@SirenOfSerenity
well said and brought up some good points
@SirenOfSerenity
Yup, you're right in all of these things. It is difficult to work together if there is low warmth and expectations!
@Heather225
Low expectations will:
- Make me set a goal lower than my potential and/or the work required in this field and would therefore hinder my ability to enact my role.
- Uncover a set of low skills rather than empowering me to do better.
Low warmth will:
- Not ensure a station of understanding between my peers and will reflect as a demerit for the whole community.
- Be counter-productive to this entire operation as it depends on being compassionate and empathetic to each and everyone.
@KimByeongIn
I agree with these statements in that without enough expectations from others nor ourselves we wouldn’t have the motive to reach as high and not make the changes we really want to have and too low on warmth we would eventually break down or not be as resilient through tough times.
