The Greatness Project

Positive Expectations

September 15, 2004

When was the last time you attempted something new and those around you were equally convinced that you could achieve your aspirations? Having others believe you can—and will—succeed leads to greater success; their belief strengthens you.

In last month’s Greatness Project article, we noted research by Dr. Thomas K. Connellan identifying three factors that help people achieve success: positive expectations, increased responsibility, and more feedback. Finding these three factors especially present in first-born children, Connellan discovered these factors accounted for success not found in those born elsewhere in the birth order. He then educated leaders in various environments about these three factors to ascertain whether he could raise success rates of individuals when these factors were present, and found he could. This month, we’ll take a deeper look at the first of the three factors, positive expectations.

Environments where expectations are positive create confidence for individuals within them. Confidence tends to build confidence; winners tend to win, and individuals who have people believing in them live up to expectations.

In the 1980’s, a well-known study revealed what happened when a group of educators were told they were teaching of “high achieving” children who were, in fact, considered underachievers. A matched group of educators were told they were teaching underachievers when, actually, they were teaching high achievers. At the end of the study, the group of so-called underachievers posted greater success than the high achievers. Why? Because the teachers treated them differently. The teachers’ positive expectations manifested itself in their students’ success.

Don’t we all have high expectations for our children, our co-workers, and ourselves? Yes. And there’s an important difference between high expectations and positive expectations. Many corporate environments have high expectations of employees. In the era of “doing more with less” employees are expected to do the work of two, three, or four employees. These days, the high expectations are that employees do more work. Inherent in positive expectations, however, is the absolute belief that individuals can achieve greater things. When employees receive positive expectations they tend to live up to them. One of our favorite examples is what happens on the first day of training at Ritz Carlton Hotels. New employees are told, “you are a gift to the organization.” The managers mean it and the employees become it.

Imagine an environment where individuals are expected to thrive, not just to survive; to be creative; to go beyond mediocrity to achieve greatness. Such positive expectations would foster powerful, creative people.

Perhaps, we can achieve greatness by having positive expectations of ourselves without waiting for environments around us to change. Let’s get personal for a moment. As we age, many of us temper our enthusiasm for new adventures to protect our egos. Not wanting to fail, we talk about “trying” but don’t really believe we can succeed. Or, having borne “the whips and scorns of time” (Shakespeare) we rest in the comfort of past achievements and watch in awe as a few others reach new heights we thought unreachable. New possibilities can be fostered by our own positive expectations. As Henry Ford said, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.”