Expect people to keep their word

Position 1: One cannot expect people to fulfill self-made commitments while simultaneously accepting the fact that people are mortal and imperfect.

Position 2: One can expect people to fulfill self-made commitments while simultaneously accepting the fact that people are mortal and imperfect.

I adhere to position 2.

I also think that position 2 is a virtuous position because maintaining a high expectation of person A in a context where most others reinforce a low level of expectation of person A allows him or her to rise to the higher level of expectation. But for that high level of expectation person A is likely to perform at the level reinforced by others' expectations.

Illustration:
Most people expect Brian Johnson to keep commitments he makes 50% of the time (that's about the social norm). Brian enters the mission field, and his mission president expects Elder Johnson to keep his word 95% of the time. This expectation is expressed in number of ways, including manifesting disappointment when Elder Johnson fails to follow through. After a year, Elder Johnson's commitments kept/commitments made ratio rises from 50% to 90%.