
By Jeff Bell.
Is it possible, as leaders, that we can change people’s performance and their lives just by transmitting high expectations?
Conversely, if we indicate low expectations, that we can do serious damage to people’s performance and even their enjoyment of life?
You may have read the myth of Greek sculptor, Pygmalion, who carved his perfect woman out of marble—who he named Galatea. He fell in love with Galatea and, happy days, she came to life. They married and had a child together.
George Bernard Shaw was so inspired by the tale, that he wrote his stage play Pygmalion, which became a stage musical and then the wildly successful movie My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. A cockney glower girl, Eliza Doolittle, is recruited by phonetics professor Henry Higgins, to become a lady through speech lessons. The professor, arrogant at first, softens and falls in love with her.
Psychologists Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted a classroom research project, called the Pygmalion Effect, which relied on teachers being told that testing had revealed children in the class who had high intellect, but that this was to be kept a secret from the subjects and all other parties. The researchers claimed that the newly-framed expectations caused a lift in the interactions by the teachers, better performance by the students and ultimately a higher IQ score than that achieved before the research project. Hence the self-fulfilling prophecy.
While flaws in methodology have since been exposed, we will know from our own experience as leaders that there is a deep inherent power when we expect the best of people. Conversely, when we expect the worst, we will inevitably be proven right. But not necessarily better off.
The Pygmalion Effect posits that the beneficiaries of the special treatment internalise the positive labels and proceed with a greater confidence that leads to higher satisfaction and performance.
So, what does this mean for our leadership?
Our expectations are inescapable—we can’t help but form them—and there are traps for the unwary. By being alert to shortcomings as well as the possibilities, positive expectations can provide a boon to our leadership if we:
- Set the standards, with secular values which we articulate and demonstrate—if these are documented and illustrated with indicative behaviours, followers will know what they are up for and, if they agree, will develop trust.
- Explain and relentlessly promote the emotional and the logical purpose of your business, so that everyone will understand where it is headed and what they can contribute and receive in their role and beyond.
- Are authentic. We know everyone and we get to know their history in the business. We have a genuine concern for each person and we do all that we can to advance their growth.
- Align our expectations with each person’s development. What are their skills, what are their strengths and is there a plan to overcome any shortcomings? Before we proceed, we need to find out where we are!
- Have a clear idea what each person wants—what can be their pathway to success under our leadership. Given the scale of our business and our position in the marketplace, what can we realistically offer?
- Provide regular updates for each person’s progress. Depending on the complexity of our organisational structure, this may be done by unit managers, but everyone should have at least one conversation per quarter with the leader.
- Avoid too high expectations. A minority of people will be excited by the seemingly impossible, but the majority may feel crushed by the weight of the unrealistic. Again, setting expectations must be for mutual benefit.
- Make our expectations independent of any consideration of remuneration. Our emphasis is on being clear about what we want and what each person can contribute; while we also understand what each person wants for themselves.
Set in the Victorian era, Shaw’s play satirises the class system while also taking a swipe at gender inequality.
About 110 years later we can rightfully claim to have moved on from both of those. The challenge for leadership today rests with each of us seeking to inspire greatness in people.