Question & Answer: Think back to a teacher, manager, or coach who believed in your ability and potential. To what…..

Pygmalion effect says that a higher expectation from somebody leads to higher levels of performance. It is somewhat true in my case. Since my teacher or manager always believed in my abilities, then it got set in my psychology and thought process that I have to meet the expectations set by my mentors. Due to this reason, it brought added motivation to the work and I could deliver better than I could do as per my abilities. For example, If I could get 60 out of 100 marks in the exam, then after my teacher’s encouragement, I could get 70. Here, I did not get exactly what was expected from myself, but I could meet more than the 75% of expectation. It also applied to in my career. My manager’s belief in my abilities and regular encouragement gradually increased my performance and I also met his expectations.
Hence, the Pygmalion effect works, but it varies positively among the individuals with different degrees of impact.
I have observed it in my colleagues also in sales & marketing function. The public encouragement by the team leader raised their confidence and it slowly increased their performance and brought in new leads for the organization. Though it took time as confidence translated into improved skill sets to convince people that led to the better performance.