What Is Pygmalion Leadership, and Why Does It Matter?

Simply holding positive expectations about someone’s performance and truly believing in their capabilities can subtly but powerfully affect their behavior—leading to positive outcomes. This is what is known as the "self-fulfilling prophecy," or the "Pygmalion effect," named after George Bernard Shaw's play in which Professor Henry Higgins transforms a common flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, into a lady simply because he was convinced that it would happen (more popularized by the musical, My Fair Lady).

The power of the Pygmalion effect, first captured by psychologist Robert Rosenthal in his study of elementary school children, has been well documented as a simple and effective way to boost performance in the classroom, in the workplace, in the military, and elsewhere.

In his famous study of elementary school students, Rosenthal led teachers to believe that certain pupils in their classrooms had been identified as "intellectual bloomers," children who would show an intellectual growth spurt during the school year. In actuality, the students were randomly given the designation of intellectual bloomers, but at the end of the term, these students did indeed show higher academic achievement. Why? Because the teachers believed in them. How? Later studies showed that teachers unconsciously gave more positive feedback and learning opportunities to these students. In short, teachers were able to verbally and nonverbally communicate their positive expectations for academic success to these students.

Application of the Pygmalion Effect to Leadership

Subsequent research on the expectancy effect suggests that it works on adults as well. In relationships, we can actually make our partner better by holding positive expectations about them (“You can do it”) and truly believing in their ability to achieve the outcome. How about work groups?

Tel Aviv University Professor Dov Eden has demonstrated the Pygmalion effect in all sorts of work groups across all sectors and industries. If supervisors or managers hold positive expectations about the performance of those they lead, for instance, believing that they can solve a challenging problem, performance improves. On the other hand, if the leader holds negative expectations—expectations that the group will fail—performance declines (the dreaded Golem effect).

A meta-analysis of various leadership development programs found that most leadership improvement programs do have positive effects, but some of the strongest effects were achieved with Pygmalion leadership training. As Professor Eden says, “It sounds so simple; it seems too good to be true.” In fact the Pygmalion effect may be part of other leadership theories;, in particular, transformational leadership theory. Transformational leaders empower their followers and give them responsibility. To do this effectively, they know their followers’ capabilities and believe that those team members can indeed get the job done. This leader's encouragement via the Pygmalion effect is partly responsible for successful team outcomes.

The Lesson for Leaders

The bottom line: Leaders, believe in your team. Hold positive and high expectations that they will solve that difficult problem or meet that seemingly insurmountable challenge, and, more often than not, they will meet or exceed your expectations.