Your People Are What You Think They Are

Ever heard of the Rosenthal Effect? It can change your whole perspective on life as a leader.

Dr. Robert Rosenthal is probably best known for his experiment with Lenore Jacobson in 1963 at an elementary school in central California.

Based on previous studies with rats, they hypothesized that teachers would treat students differently if they thought they could learn faster (or slower) than their colleagues.

They were right.

An IQ test was administered before and after the study and unequivocally the students that the teachers were told at the beginning were bright and showed promise indeed excelled by the end of the study.

Here’s the catch: the students were chosen at random - their initial IQ test did not play a part in which group they were placed (bright or slow).

Rosenthal and Jacobson randomly selected the “bright” group from low, medium, and high scorers, yet all of them excelled at the end of the study.

What was the difference?

What the teacher thought.

What you as the leader think determines the success of your followers.

If you think they are capable and competent, they are.

If you think they won’t ever get it right, they won’t.

What you believe about your people in your inner thoughts dictates how you treat them, which will provide a high or low bar that they will reach every time.

You determine the self-fulfilling prophecy.

We all perform at the level we are expected to perform.

What do you speak into your people?

Do you speak strength and trust?

Do you speak questions and hesitancy?

Leaders, you create the outcome by how you begin in your mind.