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Pygmalion Effect

Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become

as he can and should be.- Goethe

Introduction:

In an age of complexity, change and competition, role of leaders is more important than ever. The

organization success depends on the people who work for it. Effective people management is one of the key

concerns of an organization. Leaders can produce sweeping change in society by believing in the

subordinates that can produce amazing results. The heart of good management lies in the managers ability

to help people succeed and to ensure that they stay with the organization. Pygmalion effect is a type of self-

fulfilling prophecy in which, increasing a leader's expectations of subordinates performance actually

improves that performance. It is a performance stimulating effect and can be put in enhancing the attainment

of personal goals along with organizational goals. Managers can use Pygmalion effect to enhance the

subordinates' performance.

History of terminology -Pygmalion effect:

Pygmalion effectGalatea effect or self fulfilling prophecy - the term origin is dated back in history.

According to Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a sculpture who sculpted a beautiful lady and fell in love

with its own creation. Pygmalion prayed to the gods that the statue be transformed into a real woman. His

wish came to reality. But the term Pygmalion effect was popularized by a Bernard Shaw novel Pygmalion.

In the novel a phonetics teacher professor Higgins bet with his friend that he will transform a flower girl in

to a cultured lady and he won the bet. Pygmalion effect states: People can be shaped by others according to

how they are treated.

Concept:

In the novel Pygmalion, Elizathe flower girl said -You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone

can pick up (the dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on), the difference between a lady and a

flower girl is not how she behaves but how she is treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor

Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will, but I know I can be a lady to you

because you always treat me as a lady, and always will. Here the difference lies, Pygmalion effect is about

self prophecy or the power of believe.

If a manager thinks that his subordinates can perform well then his belief and confidence transfers to the

subordinates and it is shown in the result.

The power of expectations can be positive or negative .If a manager starts believing for his subordinates that

they are careless, less productive, incapable then it transforms into reality. The same way positive

expectations yield positive results. When managers believe the team will perform well, in some strange,

magical way they do. And similarly, when they believe the team wont perform well, they dont

Through the Pygmalion affect, supervisors can create better employees just by believing in them. This is

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even truer when working with underachievers. All it takes is belief.

The implication of the Pygmalion effect for leaders and managers is massive. It means that the

performance of the team depends less on them than it does on manager. The performance they can get

from people is no better than what they expect: which means leaders or mangers must expect the best.

How it works:

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A thought is a picture that is created in head. That picture creates a feeling or emotion. That feeling or

emotion will attract a similar experience. A positive feeling or emotion will create positive experiences

and a bad feeling will create negative experiences. In other words, the life will be created through the

thoughts and feelings.

Conclusion:

This unique phenomenon called -Pygmalion effect is a persistently held belief in another person such that

the belief becomes a reality. People do indeed respond in the order they are treated. Leaders need to

provide growth opportunities to others and encourage them to achieve it. All needed is, the realization to

change the treatment to match the expected result.

So, believe in power of belief.