Why Leaders Need To Understand The Pygmalion Effect

How do we challenge people to improve in our organizations if we allow a negative “Pygmalion Effect” ? If an employee came to you and said, “I know I’ll never be able to promote…” what do you say in response? Self-fulfilling prophesies are more of an effect of a mindset than true predictions.  Let’s take a look at the Pygmalion Effect and how it impacts our followers, and our own “MSP” (Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance).

What is the Pygmalion Effect?

Pygmalion, in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses (Book X)” was a sculptor who fell in love with an ivory statue that he had carved.  Enamored by the beauty of his own making, Pygmalion begs the gods to give him a wife in the likeness of the statue. The gods grant the request, and the statue comes to life.

In a 1912 play by George Bernard Shaw he adopted “Pygmalion” for the title of his play about Professor Henry Higgins whose sense of self-efficacy is grandiose: “You see this creature with her curbstone English [Eliza Doolittle] . . . in three months I could pass that girl off as a duchess at an ambassador’s garden party.” Higgins does end up passing the girl off as a duchess, but he himself knew the true roots of the girl and treated her as just a "flower girl." Others however treated her as a duchess, so for them she behaved like a duchess.

Research and Application In the Classroom:

The research work of Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobsen (1968), among others, shows that teacher expectations influence student performance.  Positive expectations influence performance positively, and negative expectations influence performance negatively. Rosenthal and Jacobson originally described the phenomenon as the “Pygmalion Effect.” “When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.” (Rosenthal and Babad, 1985) In terms of teaching, faculty who gripe about students establish a climate of failure, but faculty who value their students’ abilities create a climate of success. 

The original research of Rosenthal and Jacobsen focused on an experiment at an elementary school where students took intelligence pre-tests. Rosenthal and Jacobsen then informed the teachers of the names of twenty percent of the students in the school who were showing “unusual potential for intellectual growth” and would bloom academically within the year. Unknown to the teachers, these students were selected randomly with no relation to the initial test. When Rosenthal and Jacobson tested the students eight months later, they discovered that the randomly selected students who teachers thought would bloom scored significantly higher. Why does the Pygmalion effect occur? “If you think your students can’t achieve very much, are not too bright, you may be inclined to teach simple stuff, do lots of drills, read from your notes, give simple assignments calling for simplistic answers” (Rhem, 1999).

So what does this have to do with being a leader?

Answer: INFLUENCE!!! Remember that leadership is the ability to influence, and if you can influence individuals to not just accept a fate, or a situation, or their own self-limiting abilities, and inspire them to try to be something better, stronger, faster, smarter, etc., then you are moving them, and their teams, and your organization forward. “Higgins” taught the “flower girl” to behave like a Duchess and she was able to do it.  The teachers believing they had children with “unusual potential for intellectual growth” taught them at a higher level.  Not only does the Pygmalion Effect impact followers, it impacts the leaders…think of the teachers who tried harder thinking their students could achieve more…and Higgins who was able to achieve what he claimed he could with the “flower girl,” unfortunately for his own purpose, but still thought it possible. 

When I was in the 4th grade my teacher (we'll call her, "Mrs. P."), requested that I be tested because she thought I was "not capable of learning," she said I just sat day dreaming all day. This was true...but she didn't spend much time trying to help me or challenge me either, so I just sat there, day dreaming. I had also just transferred to a public school from a Catholic school where I was punished for speaking out. What's a kid to know? When tested, I endured multiple reading and math tests, vocabulary tests, writing tests, and a trip to the psychiatrist for an electroencephalogram to see if there were any brain waves.

Imagine the possible psychological impact to a 4th grader (average age 8-10 years old) who was being told that he was not able to learn? What if I (or my parents) actually believed it?

What the school's testing found, was in the 4th grade I was reading at the 11th grade level and I wasn't interested in the 4th grade stuff. I was interested in the stuff my older brothers were doing in the 6th and 7th grades. I was interested in astronomy, nature, the weather, and how things worked together mechanically, not in learning how to play a plastic recorder or read something out loud in a group reading session, that was already too slow. The school ultimately found that in the 4th grade I was bored and that started the day dreaming.

So, here I am many, many years later as a Doctor of Education, still interested in astronomy, nature, the weather and how things work mechanically together, wondering how many other kids just sat day dreaming because teachers didn't want to try with those students. But moreover, I am reflecting on how this applies to us as leaders with the people that we can influence. If we just replace the word teacher with leader or manager or supervisor, and student with employee or follower, then you have almost the same situation. We as leaders have the ability to influence through coaching, mentoring, sharing our knowledge and teaching those we can influence to see themselves at a different level or challenging them to see what they are actually capable of doing. But we have to engage with them and let them know that we think they are capable of it.

• What would happen if all the kids who started a sport never dreamed of being an Olympic medalist?  
• What would happen if their coaches didn’t influence them to try a little more?  
• What would have happened if Sir Alexander Fleming didn’t pursue his quest and discover penicillin? 
• Or what if NASA said, “Oh heck, the Moon is too far away for us to put a man up there!” 

Putting it all together

As leaders we have the ability (and to an extent, a duty) to engage with and influence those we can. So, back to our original question... If an employee came to you and said, “I know I’ll never be able to promote…” what do you say in response? This is where we need to recognize the Pygmalion Effect and attempt to influence them to see themselves in a different self-image. We need to be just like the teachers in the experiment and try harder to influence and support them and get them to believe that they are capable of doing or being more than they think. That may be the "tipping point" for them to try just a bit harder, then it will be no surprise to you when they become a Duchess!

About the Author: Dr. Chris Fuzie is the owner of CMF Leadership Consulting. Chris is a developer, trainer, consultant for leadership of public, private, profit, and non-profit organizations. Chris holds a Doctor of Education (Ed. D), M.A. and B.A. in Organizational Leadership, and has graduate certificates in Human Resources and Criminal Justice Education. Chris is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a former National Instructor for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Chris is the author of "Because Why... Understanding Behavior in Exigencies." and of "S.C.O.R.E. Performance Counseling: Save the Relationship, Change the Behavior." Chris is honorably retired from the Modesto Police Department after 28 years of public service, and currently is the Business/HR Manager for a District Attorney’s office in California.