Lady Bird Johnson once said, “Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”
However, this statement is NOT JUST TRUE of Children. It’s true of EVERYONE. What you believe about other people has a profound effect on what they have the potential to live up to, and this is whether they are your family, your employees, your networking partners, your customers or anyone else.
Give People the Reputation You Want Them to Live Up To
Think about it… How would you act differently in these two scenarios?
1) If you had a boss who expected little of you and thought that at best, you had the capacity to make copies and enter data
2) If you had a boss who said to you that he could see you in his position in the future, and he was relying on your brilliance to have your team exceed their goals
In which scenario do you think you’d perform better? In which scenario do you think you’d spend the extra time to go above and beyond?
It’s a NO Brainer, right? You’d most likely perform better for a boss who saw you for your potential, as opposed to a boss who only saw you for what you are today or for your limitations.
The point here is NOT to quit your job, because you just realized your boss is a jerk, but rather, to use these extremely powerful principle to become a MASTER at Helping Others Realize and Exceed their Potential.
Action Steps
Be the BOSS… Be the Power Partner… Be the Spouse…You would want to have. Believe in people more than they may believe in themselves. Drive other people to greatness by assuming the best in them and setting them up to Succeed.
Not everyone has parents who did this for them, and you may be the 1st person who really saw them for what they’re capable of. This is a BIG DEAL!!!! YOU have the potential to bring out the best in people. Use this power not only for your advantage, but for theirs. At the end of the day, business is about helping people, and it starts by helping the people who are helping you to succeed.
Specifically, think of at least 1 person you can talk to TODAY about what you see in them!
As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I want to hear how it goes, and let me know if you need coaching on how to talk to people about their greatness! This tip in itself might be the key to taking your career and business to the next level!
To your career and leadership success!
Jos
Tags: Action, Career, Leadership, Success, Transition
