In 1968, psychologist Robert Rosenthal and school principal Lenore Jacobson partnered together to devise a study. Their goal was to measure the effect that teachers’ expectations had on student performance.
They gave teachers in the school the names of a certain number of students in each of their classes who had performed well on an intelligence pretest, and the teachers were told that these students would blossom academically in the coming year. But what the teachers weren’t told was that the pretest was a farce, and the students who were supposedly primed to exhibit intellectual growth had actually been chosen at random.
However, when all of the students were tested later on in the school year, Rosenthal and Jacobson found that those students whom the teachers had been told would excel and get smarter actually scored higher and showed greater improvement than their peers. How could this be the case if these students had truly been chosen at random?
What Rosenthal and Jacobson discovered is that it wasn’t any inherent aptitude that predicted academic success; it was their teachers’ belief in them that accounted for the growth of these students. Because they believed that these students could and would succeed, the teachers, often unknowingly, gave more attention to these students and engaged with them differently than they did with kids for whom they didn’t have any special expectations.
This phenomenon is known as the Pygmalion Effect, and its power can be felt just as much in the workplace as in the classroom. The degree to which you as a leader believe in your people and communicate that belief can play a huge role in unlocking their potential and getting the most out of your team.
In examining the results of his study, there were two takeaways Dr. Rosenthal found that I think are key for leaders to understand.
Creating A Positive Environment
The first thing Dr. Rosenthal noticed is that when teachers had higher expectations for particular students, they created a better learning environment for those students. They were warmer toward these students; they gave them more attention in class, and they called on them more often to answer questions. Essentially, the more a teacher believed in a student’s potential for learning and succeeding, the more of the teacher’s time, energy and resources that student received.
As leaders, we can often be guilty of similar behavior. We may not walk into the office every day and consciously choose to give more attention and resources to some team members and less to others. But the fact is that we all have subconscious beliefs and assumptions about the people we work with.
So, we need to ask ourselves: What am I giving to my people at work? Am I scheduling regular one-on-ones where I take time to coach and encourage each of my team members? Am I only tapping certain people for projects, giving them the opportunity to grow and develop new skills? Are there some team members who get less of my time and attention than others? If so, why, and how can I change my perspective and my approach with that person so I can get the most out of them?
Questions like these are crucial because if we aren’t clear on how we’re investing in our people in concrete ways — if we aren’t working to create positive, encouraging environments for everyone — then we run the risk of alienating and losing employees who could have made valuable contributions to the team if their leader had only shown a belief in them.
The Feedback Factor
The second thing Dr. Rosenthal noticed when reviewing his study was what he called "the feedback factor." When teachers believed in certain students, not only did they praise those students more; they also gave more substantive, helpful feedback when those students made mistakes or shared wrong answers in class.
So while a teacher might simply accept a low-quality answer from a student in whom they don’t believe and move on, they’ll take a different approach when they believe in the student who has given a poor answer, and they’ll dive deeper and help that student see where they went wrong and how they could do better the next time.
The lesson here for leaders is that when you truly believe in your people and you’re invested in them, you’re willing to walk with them through their failures, understand the challenges they face and take an active role in helping them learn from their mistakes.
So, how do you approach teaching opportunities with your people? Do you intentionally seek them out? When a team member is struggling or makes a mistake, do you look the other way? Do you lash out? Or, do you coach them up and help them understand how they can change and what they can do better next time?
If you believe in your people and take a positive, constructive approach when addressing their failures, those moments can be transformed into powerful catalysts for growth.
It’s All About Attitude
I want to leave you with one final thought: When it comes to believing in your people and investing the time and resources to help them realize their potential, nothing matters if you don’t have the right attitude.
Believing in people isn’t a box to check on your weekly to-do list, and it’s not something that can be addressed in a one-off meeting. Believing in people is a posture of the heart; it’s a value you have to hold at the core of who you are as a leader.
So I encourage you to take some time for yourself this week and examine what you believe about your people and how you’re communicating that belief. What’s already working? What do you need to change? I promise, if you can get this right — if your people know you believe in them — then the sky is the limit for what you can achieve together.
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