by Carol Pearson | Featured Contributor
What sort of expectations do you have of your team?
Are you confident your team will perform well, meet your expectations and deliver organizational goals? Or are you suspicious that they may not perform to the level required.
Many factors contribute to a person’s or team’s success including their skills and capabilities, resources and their personal motivation. However, your role as CEO or team leader is critical and the expectations you hold of your team members can powerfully influence their behavior.
The Pygmalion Effect
You’ve probably heard of the ‘Pygmalion Effect’. It’s the idea that most people will adapt their behavior to meet an expectation. Positive expectations influence performance positively, and negative expectations influence performance negatively.
Through the Pygmalion effect, people internalize their positive labels, which then creates the motivation and confidence to succeed. Successful Managers understand this subtle influence and know how to harness it to produce high performance.
Tips to create high performance:
- Communicate high expectations
- Deliver positive messages of confidence and support
- Always talking positively about your team
- Providing adequate resources, training and time
- Celebrate successes and recognize achievements
- View failure as a learning opportunity
- Give constructive feedback privately
The opposite is having low expectations of your team, failing to empower and trust them and not recognizing successes or investing in them. This creates a downward spiral in motivation and performance.
If your team isn’t performing to the level you want, consider if it might be because you haven’t created an expectation and environment for high performance or if there are other issues impacting performance that need to be addressed.
Carol is a coach, workshop facilitator, speaker and the founder of Midlife Women, a coaching practice dedicated to helping women embrace change, build confidence, and experience a happy and meaningful second half of life.
Carol believes that having a positive approach and an inspiring vision is essential, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. However, to be successful, you must also take action. She coaches clients to develop the right mind-set and do the inner work to break through the obstacles that get in the way of achieving true success.
Carol enjoys coaching all clients, but she is particularly committed to working with women in midlife, helping them follow their passions towards meaningful, rewarding and happy lives. She works face-to-face or remotely using Skype, Zoom etc.
Having enjoyed an international corporate career in London, Sydney, San Francisco and New York for more than 20 years, Carol is now based in London, from where she juggles her passion for international travel and exploring different cultures with work, meeting clients and catching up with friends.
