How do I push my team on targets I know are hard?

You can supervise now, but this part sits wrong in your gut, and that discomfort is worth listening to. Pushing people toward targets you privately think are steep means you are caught between the demand handed down to you and the humans in front of you. Feeling troubled by that does not make you weak at the job. It means you have not stopped seeing your people as people.\nYou can hold both honesty and effort at the same time. You do not have to pretend the target is easy, and you do not have to protect your team from it by carrying it silently. Tell them the truth: this one is hard, here is what we are aiming for, here is how we will go at it together. People will push much further for a supervisor who is straight with them than for one who fakes ease. Respect is what makes hard targets movable.\nBefore the next push, decide what you can actually control and be honest about the rest. You can control clarity, fairness, and having their backs when they hit a wall. You cannot control whether the number was reasonable. Own your part fully and speak plainly about the rest. That honesty is what lets you push hard without grinding down either them or yourself.