The Greatness Project

First Born Greatness

August 15, 2004

Most families plan for the best for their children, but are often disappointed. Most schools desire greatness in their students, yet few attain it. Most businesses hope for greatness from their employees, but fail to receive it. What allows greatness to develop?

As we work with teams and leaders around the country, we hear individuals say they can’t do their best work. The reasons they give usually fall into one of three categories: either their boss or supervisor doesn’t truly believe in their potential; or no new opportunities are offered; or (what we hear frequently) they don’t receive any feedback. Each factor taken separately can have a negative impact on performance; in combination, they’re disastrous. In fact, there’s research that suggests managers have a significant role to play in fostering greatness in employees.

Dr. Thomas K. Connellan, former research associate and program director at the University of Michigan has discovered three keys that unlock peak performance in individuals. First, he focused on successful firstborn children, comparing them with those located elsewhere in the birth order. When he quickly discovered genetics was not a key factor in predicting success, he turned his attention to environmental factors. Eventually, he isolated three factors that contribute to the success of firstborn children. He further discovered that individuals respond with greater success when these factors play a role in home, school, and business environments.

What are these factors?

Positive expectations
Increased responsibility
More feedback

When provided together, these factors offer individuals the optimal possibility for success. We couldn’t’ help but note how these factors match the ones we most often find missing when we research why individuals or teams are not achieving greatness.

Positive expectations involve providing more than “rah-rah” encouragement. Dr. Connellan says that you have to really believe that the individual can succeed, you can’t fake it. Indeed, positive expectations need to be communicated authentically and regularly.

Individuals grow through the challenge of increased responsibility, yet what leaders call empowerment is often abandonment. New responsibilities cannot be heaped on individuals without direction or guidance. The possibility for success is enhanced when information and guidance accompany new responsibilities.

Providing more feedback is essential. Individuals succeed when they know what they do well and how they could do better. The tragedy is that often individuals receive no feedback at all. Dr. Connellan indicates that a total lack of feedback is even worse than bad feedback, because the individual feels abandoned.

Three simple factors can change the success of individuals in families, schools, and companies. Are they present in your environment?