Confidence: seeing yourself through the eyes of others
When another person has faith in our abilities, it transforms our confidence and our potential to succeed, writes Rosie Ifould
Daniel Kish could ride a bike by the time he was six. On its own, that doesnโt sound very remarkable, but Daniel Kish had been blind since he was a toddler. Born with retinoblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer, Kishโs doctors removed both his eyes before he was two. Heโs now a campaigner and a pioneer of โecholocationโ โ using sound to โseeโ the world.
In talks he describes how he woke up from the surgery, having lost his sight, climbed out of his crib and began walking around the intensive care nursery. At home he would climb fences and career down the road on his bike, crashing into things. The neighbours were apparently outraged โ how could his mother let him do such dangerous things? But his mother says that all she could think to reply was, โHow could I not?โ
She knew it was dangerous, but Paulette Kish had faith in her son. We often talk about the โweightโ or โpressureโ of expectation. The attitudes and assumptions other people make about us lie heavily on our shoulders. Weโre encouraged to manage our expectations of others, in case they end up disappointing us. Low expectations, weโre told, are the key to happiness.
Faith can move mountains
But what if thereโs a flip side? What if the power of other peopleโs expectations can be positive? What if someone elseโs faith in us is actually the force that enables us to do better โ even if weโre not really aware of it?
In the 1960s, two psychologists, Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, wanted an answer to that question. To test the idea that positive expectations matter, they divided a class of schoolchildren into two groups and told their teachers that, according to tests, group A was about to have an intellectual growth spurt. By the end of the year, the children in the โgiftedโ group A were doing significantly better in class. But, in fact, there had been no difference between them and the children in group B. The only special thing about them was that their teachers believed they were special.
The teachers didnโt know but, because they expected the group A children to succeed, they treated them differently. They gave them more opportunities to speak out in class. They gave them more informative feedback about their work. They responded to them more warmly โ they changed the โemotional climateโ of their classroom. In countless tiny ways, the attitudes of those teachers made a huge difference to the lives of the children in their care.
Of course, these things matter a great deal when we are young. We all know the effect that one good โ or bad โ teacher can have on our confidence. But other peopleโs expectations matter just as much when weโre adults.
โI was never confident as a child. In our family, my brother was the clever one and I was the good one,โ says Carla*, a marketing manager. โIt really affected me when I began working. I definitely had imposter syndrome. But then I changed departments and got a new boss, and she was incredible. She didnโt go in for big pep talks or anything like that but, right from the start, she talked to me like I was someone who mattered to the company. She included me in decisionmaking. She gave me responsibility. And I thought, โIf she thinks I can do it, maybe I can.โ I still got stressed, but just having the belief that I could do it brought about a difference.โ
Carlaโs boss made one of her key employees happier and, most likely, more productive, and she did it without even being conscious of the difference she was making. โI asked her recently why she was so kind to me when I first started? And she said it wasnโt about being kind. She just thought I was clever and competent, so she treated me that way.โ
There are positive benefits for both parties โ that warm โemotional climateโ that Rosenthal and Jacobson found in their teacher experiment is good for both teacher and pupil. Carla worked harder and earned the company more money. After we spoke, she sent me a quote sheโd heard from someone at Pixar: โWe start from the presumption that our people are talented and want to contribute.โ Just imagine thatโฆ
Give praise where itโs due
There is a catch. Itโs a powerful thing to believe in the best of somebody, but itโs not easy to fake. Itโs not just about offering scattergun praise in the hope that something useful will find a target. In fact, as the psychologist Carole Dweck points out in her book, Mindset (Little, Brown,ยฃ10.99), praise that isnโt earned, or is offered for the wrong reasons, can be just as damaging as criticism. Perhaps the first step is not active praise, but a re-examination of our own attitudes.
How do you feel about the people you work with, your friends, your family? Are there people in your life that you struggle to be supportive of? Can you remember times when you have been surprised by someone elseโs success, and why you were surprised? Do you know anyone who is a brilliant champion of other people, and what do they do differently?
Questioning belief systems
โA few years ago, I decided to give up my job in the city and become a chef,โ says Sophie*. โI only told a few people and most of them were quick to point out the negatives โ it would be poor pay, a lot of job insecurity and I could see that many of them were thinking, โDoes she really think sheโs talented enough?โ I was beginning to think they were right, that I shouldnโt hand in my notice, then I confided in an old friend from school, Mel. She just said, โOh, thank God! Iโve been waiting for years to be able to boast about you to everyone I know.โ In that moment, I saw myself through Melโs eyes and it was such a confidence-booster.โ
Three years later, Sophie is about to launch her own catering business, and says she still thinks of Mel every time she has a tough day. โBut the thing is, I donโt know if Iโd have been able to do the same thing for her. I worry a lot about what could go wrong. I probably would have said to myself, โDo you really think you can make it?โ rather than, โThatโs brilliant! Go for it!โโ
If sheโd had to decide for herself, Sophie probably would have talked herself out of her big career change. If Carla had been left with her own thoughts, she might have floundered at work. And, if I had been left to my own devices, I may not have run my first half-marathon last year โ I didnโt think I was sporty enough, but my husband took me to buy a new pair of trainers and talked to me about training schedules, and never once did he even hint that he thought I might not be fit enough. I managed a personal best.
Itโs fantastic when weโre able to be our own loudest cheerleader, but there are times when itโs even more powerful to have someone else standing beside us, telling us, โYou can do it.โ
*names have been changed.
Photograph: iStock