What You See Is What You Get

Once there was an employee who rarely if ever spoke up at meetings. She never shared ideas, never contributed. She did what she was told to do but nothing more. She stammered when asked probing questions. She avoided leading meetings. She didn't seem to care too much about her work.

And once there was an employee who always had great ideas and was quick to make recommendations and then get to work implementing her ideas. She pioneered new approaches, led initiatives, and lobbied for innovations. She loved to facilitate meetings and training sessions and discovered she was good at that. She was highly motivated and always one of the first to volunteer for new assignments.

Two very different employees. Same person. Both me--at the same company in the same role.

What was the difference? Two very different bosses.

The first boss was judgmental and quick to criticize. If I proposed an idea, he quickly tore it to shreds with probing questions. If I dared to speak up, he sarcastically belittled my contribution. If something important needed to be done, he did it himself because he didn't trust me to do it. And when I tried to lead a meeting, he publicly criticized me, even in front of clients. He expected me to fail, and I began to oblige him.

Luckily, through various reorganizations, I got a new boss. And this boss saw potential in me. He saw what I could be and set performance objectives for me to develop my skills. I could tell just by the look in his eyes that he believed in me. When I got up the nerve to pitch an idea to him, he supported me and coached me on how to implement the idea. When I facilitated a training class or meeting, he assisted, even jumping in to tear off tape and hang up flipcharts. When things went well, he was the first to congratulate me and celebrate my achievements. He always looked out for me.

It's amazing how much power managers have over the success of their employees. Amazing how the look in someone's eye or the tone of their voice can boost or wither performance. In his book, Quiet Leadership, David Rock provides current brain research that shows that people need positive feedback to perform. This is not a psychological notion but a physiological fact based on how our brains work.

Rock talks about how our own internal fears and criticism can quickly overload our neural circuits when we are trying something new. Acknowledgement and encouragement from others can actually help to remove those negative thoughts from our minds so that we can focus on what we're trying to accomplish, with better chance of success. The research he cites shows that the brain needs positive feedback in order to make the long-term neural connections that translate to performance.

If you think in these physiological terms, it's easy to see that my first boss was actually shutting down my brain's functions, while my second boss was helping me to form new neural circuits that allowed me to achieve goals successfully.

Over 200 years ago, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said it best:
"If you treat an individual as he is, he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought and could be."

Could you change someone's performance simply by changing what you see in him or her?

Claudia Escribano is a Senior Instructional Designer for Vangent, Inc. a talent management firm that helps organizations create a high-performing workforce through customized blended, instructor-led, and e-learning solutions.

Comments

[Stacy Straczynski]

Great post and very true. It's amazing what can be accomplished when you have someone at your company supporting you. It all goes back to motivation and expectation. If you expect your employees to do well and encourage their performance, they will rise to the occasion. I know I for one always get a boost after receiving even a small positive comment on my own work.

[John Elmer]

A former supervisor of mine told me "A large part of my success as a manager is based on what you, as my direct report, achieve. That's why I belive that one of my most important jobs here is to supoort you in any way that I can so you become successful."
I never forgot that, and have used it now with my direct reports as well.

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A former supervisor of mine told me "A large part of my success as a manager is based on what you, as my direct report, achieve. That's why I belive that one of my most important jobs here is to supoort you in any way that I can so you become successful."
I never forgot that, and have used it now with my direct reports as well.

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