There was once a young lady who went to work for a company immediately after graduating from college. She seemed extremely talented but unbelievably timid. She was assigned to a small local marketing department where she assisted in the production of basic advertising material. Her supervisor associated her shyness with a lack of technical and conceptual skills. As a result, she was never included in brainstorming or planning sessions. The supervisor thought she was best suited to simple graphics layout and paste-up.

Frustrated that her talents were squandered on simple tasks, she applied to the corporate marketing department. The vice-president reviewed her resume and transferred her without even so much as an interview. His concept of the young lady was extremely positive and he immediately assigned her to a series of important, key projects. She performed magnificently.

A few months later, the original supervisor was in the vice-president's office admiring the new corporate ad campaign. The project consisted of television and radio commercials, full-page ads for national publications and complete press kits. The supervisor asked, "What kind of a Madison Avenue rain-maker worked this kind of magic?" The VP replied, "This was all completed by that young lady you sent me. That was the best move I ever made!"

You see, the young lady was held back by the expectations of her former supervisor, who felt she was incapable of anything beyond the most trivial of assignments. Her new supervisor, however, saw a completely different person. He felt, from her resume, that she had enormous potential and gave her ample opportunity to demonstrate that creativity. As a result of this confidence and expectation, she performed at a very high level.

As a classroom teacher I saw this all the time. There were many students who came into my class with low marks and a reputation for having poor work habits. I ignored previous reports and set high standards for my pupils. Many of them protested that they "couldn’t" do the work. I held my ground and told them that there was no reason why I should accept a lower standard and assured them that I would never assign them anything which I felt was beyond their capabilities. By showing them that I felt they were competent, many of them found a new level of success that surprised their parents and former teachers alike.

The message is clear. If your supervisors expect little from you, and give you very little responsibility, you will likely perform to that level. However, if your supervisors show confidence in your abilities and give you corresponding responsibilities, you will rise to new levels which may even surprise yourself.

Readers who are familiar with baseball will remember Pete Rose. One day he was being interviewed during spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb’s all time hits record. A report asked him, "Pete, you only need 78 hits to break the record. How many at bats do you think you’ll need to get the 78 hits?"

Without hesitation, Pete looked at the reporter and said, "78."

The report yelled back, "Come on, Pete. You don’t expect to get 78 hits in 78 bat bats do you?"

Rose explained, "Every time I step up to the plate I expect to get a hit. If I go up there hoping to get a hit, then I probably don’t have a prayer."

Rose’s philosophy is one that we all should adopt. If you hope to finish the project. If you hope to be a good father. If you hope to make your sales quota. I you hope to finish your homework....you may do an adequate job, but you will never make it to your ultimate goals. Therefore, you must approach everything in life with an expectation that you will always be successful. Nothing else is acceptable. You should never do anything hoping to succeed. You approach everything expecting to succeed. You may not get a "hit" every time you go to bat, but you have to "expect" that you will or you will never get anywhere.