The Pygmalion Effect: Proof That Expectations Drive Performance

It’s been said that we get the direct reports and performance we deserve. I would amend this to say that we get the direct reports and performance we expect. But can it really be that simple? Is just expecting people to do well really all it takes to ensure that they’ll deliver high levels of performance? The short answer is yes. While the idea does invite skepticism, more than four decades of research shows that when a person in authority expects others to perform well, the people under him or her actually do rise to the occasion. Let’s look at three examples, among many, of the power expectations have to move performance.
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson did one of the ...

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