The Pygmalion Effect

I recently read an interesting article about San Francisco 49rs quarterback Alex Smith.  For those of you who don’t know, Alex Smith and Jim Harbaugh, Smith was the first overall draft pick in the 2005 draft.  For the first six years of his career, he failed to live up to his own billing, not to mention the great tradition of 49rs quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Until this year.

What happened?  Smith found himself with a new coach, Jim Harbaugh, who believed in him.

Last season Smith finally lived up to what he was always projected to be. That was evidence of him having confidence in himself and his coach having confidence in him. That was a big step in showing the team and showing the fans, who had been calling for him to be out of there for a long time, that they can be successful with him.

Without probably knowing it, Harbaugh brought Smith back by creating The Pygmalion Effect which refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often children or students and employees, the better they perform. The effect is named after Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor in a narrative by Ovid in Greek mythology, who fell in love with a female statue he had carved out of ivory.

Have you ever had someone who really believed in you?  Did their belief instill a new sense of confidence in you?  It’s happened to me several times, most notably when a commander I worked for way back, believed in my ability so much he put me on the road to education. Without him I probably would still be a high school dropout who couldn’t get into college. The confidence he built in me enabled me to go on and have the career I have now.

On the other hand, have you ever had someone either verbally or non-verbally remove confidence in you?  If so, you probably felt discouraged, unmotivated, and lost any sense of creativity.  I’ve had that happen too!

What should we do?

First of all, if you’re working hard to develop personally and/or professionally, surround yourself with people who believe in you.  I’m not suggesting you get people who just accentuate the positive – I mean people who will build you up but also push you hard and won’t accept less than your full effort.

Second, if you’re in any position of influence (boss, parent, etc.) are you making every effort to call attention to a person’s strengths?  If you see any potential for greatness, are you identifying that and building on that?  Your encouragement might be just what they need to break through a personal or professional barrier.  It’s a great experience to see someone you care about achieve their goals or set new and exciting ones.

The Harbaugh/Smith connection will continue to play out through the next season.  I’ll be curious to see just how the second half of Smith’s career pans out next season.  No matter what, I’m sure he’ll play it with a renewed sense of energy and confidence.

What will you do this week to create The Pygmalion Effect with someone in your life?