Christian Ruf, special operations veteran turned executive search leader, delivers a masterclass in expectation-setting that exposes why most delegation fails before it begins.
Effective leadership, according to Christian, rests on four pillars: feedback, accountability, consistency, and expectations. But expectations come first. Without clear standards, the other three collapse into subjective interpretation and frustration.
Christian's three S's framework cuts through management theory bloat:
- Specific means zero room for interpretation. "End of week" becomes "Friday 3PM PST, PDF format, in my inbox." The rule of thumb is to ask, “Could a four-year-old understand it?”
- Shared understanding gives people the "why" behind the task, enabling autonomous decision-making when you're not there. Cooking dinner for two versus twenty requires completely different approaches. Without context, people optimize for the wrong outcome.
- Supported means providing actual resources: training, SOPs, budget, organizational access. Asking someone to do Turkish getups without a kettlebell sounds absurd, yet managers do the equivalent daily.
At the same time, you shouldn’t stop giving your team the "why". Your purpose needs repetition until it becomes organizational muscle memory. He introduces the brief-back technique, where you have team members explain their understanding before executing. This allows leaders to catch misalignment before it becomes failure.
The framework's power lies in its diagnostic utility. When someone underperforms, leaders ask: Was it specific? Shared? Supported? Three yes answers mean it's a performance issue. Any no means it's a leadership failure. This shifts accountability where it belongs and prevents the toxic cycle of blaming team members for unclear expectations.
KEY TOPICS: (02:02) The Four Pillars of Effective Leadership (05:10) Pillar One: Specific Expectations (08:24) Pillar Two: Shared Understanding (12:38) Pillar Three: Supported Execution (15:24) The Three S's Diagnostic for Failed Expectations
Stay connected for more insights and strategies by following: Jon: @MatznerJon on X and at lazyleverage.beehiiv.com Peter: @pslohmann on X and at peterlohmann.com
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