An interesting article about boosting the self esteem of children quickly reminded me that the points being made echoed the same ones managers must use when taking over the leadership of a new team--how essential it is to define success for the team members and to clearly define expectations.

When your employees understand how you define success, they can adjust their activities and behaviors to get there.  When they know what level of accomplishment allows them to meet expectations, employees won't spend their time worrying about review surprises and instead can concentrate on satisfying your customers.

As we all know, when employees receive their annual reviews, there should never be any surprises.  Defining expectations, and regularly reviewing their performance towards those expectations, keeps your organization on the track for Success!