“A unique characteristic of superior managers is the ability to create high performance expectations that subordinates fulfil … Subordinates, more often than not, appear to do what they believe they are expected to do.”
Bad Vibes
One of the most powerful – and frightening – research programs in social psychology was that conducted by Robert Rosenthal into the Pygmalion effect. Named after an ancient Greek who fell in love with a statue he'd carved, it found that a student’s success is directly related to a teacher’s belief in their ability.
This is not simply a finding about children in the classroom, it seems to be a general truism. Good managers get more out of their people by believing in them, and letting them know it. Bad ones create bad vibes and bad results: a CEO that only bullies and never encourages will run a bad company, or at least a less good one than it could be.
