I’ve recently spent time with teams talking about the impact our beliefs have on our own performance and that of others.

It’s so easy to focus on what’s going wrong rather than what’s going right, so when we turned it on its head, it created quite a few lightbulb moments.
If you focus on mistakes, your people feel anxious they can’t do it and start to second-guess every move, which in turn prompts you to micromanage. And we all know what it feels like to be micromanaged!! We overthink things and create the prophecy expected by our manager.

We discussed the Pygmalion Effect; a psychological phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. As the cycle above shows, your beliefs about others influence your actions towards them. This impacts the way others believe in themselves and causes them to perform at a higher level, thereby reinforcing our beliefs about them. When we focus on the strengths someone brings to the activity, they bring it!

You may have read research about teachers thinking they were teaching A* students when in reality they were mid-level students. Because they were treated as A* students, they rose to the teacher’s expectations.

What does this have to do with you? Well, if you’re working with teams, using the Pygmalion Effect can foster a culture of trust and empowerment while increasing performance levels.

Next time you’re having a downer on someone, assume they’re capable and want to do a great job, then get out of the way and let it happen. Some of the following strategies may also help…

✅  Set high expectations

Communicate your belief in people’s abilities. Set challenging yet achievable goals, and express confidence in their abilities and potential.

✅  Provide constructive feedback

Make sure it’s specific, actionable, and focused on improvement. Frame feedback in a way that reinforces the person’s belief in their capabilities.

✅  Recognise and celebrate successes

Celebrating success reinforces positive behaviour and motivates people to continue striving for excellence.

✅  Foster a growth mindset

Encourage a culture where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities without fear of micromanagement.

✅  Empower individuals

Give team members autonomy and responsibility to make decisions and take ownership of their work. This will boost their confidence and demonstrate your belief in their abilities.

Viewing people through a lens of optimism builds confidence and competence. And surely, we all want our people to feel valued, trusted, and motivated to perform at their best.

How do you think your people would respond to these approaches?