Most of us are familiar with the experiment known as "Pygmalion in the Classroom," in which teachers were given information regarding the potential and past performance of incoming students. This information was arbitrary and not at all a factual reflection of how well the students had performed in the past. Still, armed with the information, teachers went to work with the students throughout the school year.

At the end of the year the researchers compared the performance of pupils with their past performance and the ratings teachers had been given. Astonishingly, the correlation was higher between what teachers were told about students at the beginning of the year and their performance at the end of the year than between past performance and current year performance. The study speaks to the impact of teacher expectation on the performance of students.

This same dynamic applies to adults' performance. Several studies have shown that employees and teams tend to perform just about as well as we expect. If we expect little, we send messages of low expectation and limited confidence, and we tend to provide limited support. Conversely, when our confidence is high, we convey our confidence and expectations in dozens of ways. We provide more timely and effective feedback. Assigned tasks and challenges tend to be more thought-provoking and engaging. As a result, performance continues to grow. In both cases we convince ourselves that we were correct. In reality what we probably are seeing is that the performance of others may have less to do with them and more to do with us.

The bottom line: We will have a greater impact if we consistently expect and coach for the best. In the words of the philosopher Goethe, "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."

"Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is.  Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe