Expectations are a thing of duality:

 

1-Your expectations of what you’re capable of will actually determine what you’re capable of. 

 

So beware:  Your expectations of yourself will always be accurate—even when you have them too low.

 

2-But your expectations of what others are, or will be, won’t be so accurate.  In fact, we all routinely misjudge others when we have little to go on. 

 

And the real kicker?  The less we have to measure them by, the more inaccurate our assessment will be.  That’s because of a little thing called distraction that I wrote about a few weeks back—even before the emergence of Susan Boyle last week on Britain’s Got Talent.

 

Even if you’ve seen the video, you might want to watch it again now, because I’m going to call your attention to few things you might have missed.

 

Susan Boyle violated all the ‘rules’.  Her first (and biggest) violation was her appearance. 

 

Then when Simon Cowell asked, “What’s the dream,” she answered, “I’m trying to be a professional singer.”  And the crowd laughed. 

 

When she said she wanted to be as successful as Ellen Paige?  They laughed again.  

 

The worst part?  Everyone’s reaction was based on the smallest amount of information you can have:  Appearance. 

 

When she sang, though, everything changed.  Why?  Because the audience had more information to go on—they heard the voice.  And this actually supports another post I gave you two weeks ago:  It proves that physical information (body language) is less informative than verbal information.  

 

In the minds of those viewing her, what were the expectations of Susan Boyle?  Well, low as you can go.  Look at the video again, and you’ll see only one person who appears to have an openness to her:  One of the judges, Amanda Holden.

 

Everyone’s expectations were wildly exceeded, of course, and the hubbub has been relentless ever since.

 

But here’s what everyone is missing:  The greatest asset Susan Boyle had wasn’t her tremendous voice—it was her confidence.  Truth is, without this confidence, no one would have ever heard her sing that night. 

 

That confidence manifested itself through Susan’s expectations—of herself.  There’s the duality again:  The expectations of the people observing her, and Susan’s own expectations of herself.  Her real secret to success was that her self-expectations were high, right where they should have been.  And they served her well.

 

In the backstage interview before the performance, notice how her manner changes when she says, “I’m gonna make that audience rock.”  She said it with such intensity… and confidence.  This from a 47 year-old woman who’s never been kissed. 

 

Can you honestly say to yourself that you have that kind of confidence? 

 

There’s a quote inside the front cover of my book Conquering Deception©:  “Persistence is more powerful than talent”.  If you had to choose between the two—persistence or talent—you’d be better off with persistence.  A talented person who gives up, or never even starts, will always be surpassed by a less talented person who refuses to quit.

 

Whether it’s a product or a person, great marketing relies on image.  Usually that means great visual appeal.  Aesthetics have become so important in music, for instance, that I’ve had this theory for a long time:  If he’d arrived on the scene today, George Jones would have never made it.  Hey, Lyle Lovett barely made it.  Remember how they made fun of his mug when he married Julia Roberts?

 

It used to be that talent came first, and curb appeal second.  Think Mama Cass. 

  

So is it possible the arrival of Susan Boyle could take us back to the good ole days, when talent came first? 

 

No way. 

 

Just consider how fast this has come full circle:  The audience was disappointed with her looks, then amazed at her voice, and now there’s a raging debate over whether she should get a makeover.  Nobody learned a thing. 

 

Now don’t get the idea that I watch American Idol, but with three daughters and a wife in the house, I’ve… well, I’ve seen it occasionally as I’ve passed through the living room.  And you know what?  I like Simon Cowell.  Sure, he’s rude, but what he says is always right on.  He’s making business judgments.  It’s just that his coarse reviews get an emotional reaction, causing folks to ignore that he’s right.  Hmm… there’s distraction again.  

 

But this time, for all of his musical judgment and wisdom, Simon Cowell proved he’s totally inept at judging talent… by simply viewing a person. 

 

As are we all.

 

It was a proud moment for Susan Boyle, and a sobering one for the rest of us.

 

So what lesson can you take from all this?  A lot of things, but I’ll just focus you on one:  Lowering the expectations of others can sometimes place you at an incredible advantage.  Susan Boyle probably didn’t consciously make use of this under-appreciated power, but she benefited from it just the same.

 

While common logic (and ego) would have us believe that flexing our muscle is wise, you might remember that one of Sun Tzu’s principle philosophies was to allow the enemy to underestimate your strength.    

 

I think Susan Boyle might agree he was onto something.

Tags: conquering deception, distraction, expectations

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Thought Control. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.