Believing in the innate goodness of human beings and helping people achieve their full potential is a characteristic of strong leadership. The Pygmalion effect occurs when the leader believes so strongly in the abilities of another that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. "When leaders expect people to achieve high standards they do, when people are labeled as underachievers performance suffers" (Kouzes & Posner, 2003, p.21). Creating a supportive environment in which nurse leaders look for positive performance and expect the best in their staff sets a good tone for the facility and motivates staff to achieve outstanding results. Managers who walk around and look for negatives are intimidating to staff and lose credibility and respect. A negative atmosphere is created that does not encourage people to be their best.
Attached is an interesting video on the Pygmalion Effect. The video highlights the research that showed teachers expectation of students affected their performance. When teachers were told their students were high performers, even though it was not true, the students grades improved. Interesting to think about.
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