How to ascend: Part 2

"Give them a fine reputation to live up to."

In 1964, Robert Rosenthal passed out IQ tests in a California elementary school.

After the students took the tests, Rosenthal told the teachers which students had the most academic potential.

They were deemed the “intellectual bloomers.”

At the end of the year, the students took another IQ test.

The result?

The “intellectual bloomers” improved the most.

And then Rosenthal revealed the catch.

The students he had deemed “intellectual bloomers” from the first IQ test were chosen at random.

But the teachers believed those students were exceptional.

So those students performed exceptionally well.

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Last week, we talked about how you become what you label yourself.

But did you know that other people often become what you label them?

Here’s Dale Carnegie, the original self-improvement guru, in his book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”: 

“In short, if you want to improve a person in a certain respect, act as though that particular trait were already one of his or her outstanding characteristics. 

“Shakespeare said ‘Assume a virtue, if you have it not.’ And it might be well to assume and state openly that other people have the virtue you want them to develop. 

“Give them a fine reputation to live up to, and they will make prodigious efforts rather than see you disillusioned.”

Tell people their personalities shine with the traits they lack. 

It might cause those traits to bloom within them.

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Rosenthal’s study became known as the “Pygmalion effect.” The Pygmalion effect has been challenged over the years, but the concept is clear:

People are more likely to live up to high expectations and more likely to fall short of low expectations.

Both Rosenthal and Carnegie give slightly different reasons for this.

Rosenthal’s study attributes it to external influences.

The teachers saw certain students as higher performers, so they spent more time with them. They encouraged those students more. They did what they could to unlock their potential.

But Carnegie attributes it to internal drive. 

As humans, we never want to disappoint. If we’re told we’re smart, we don’t want to come off as dumb. If we’re told we’re kind, we don’t want to be seen as rude. If we’re told we’re patient, we don’t want to appear agitated.

But in both circumstances, we tend to live up to what other people think of us.

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So what does this mean for you?

Your words have more power than you realize.

Your support, your encouragement, and your expectations have the ability to influence not just who a person is — but who a person can become. 

Instead of writing people off, consider that they might just need someone to believe in what they can be.

Assume their virtues. 

Tell them who they can be.

Give them a fine reputation to live up to.

There’s a good chance they’ll do exactly that.