AUGUST 22

Believe in the possibilities.

THEN BREAK RECORDS

You know the story. Before 1954, medical experts believed that it was humanly impossible to run a mile in less than four minutes. After all, in the entire history of mankind, no one had ever done it. Then, on May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister crossed the mile marker in 3:59.4 minutes and everything changed. In following years, dozens of other athletes would literally follow in Banner’s footsteps to break the four-minute mile.

What made the difference? Did their fitness level drastically rise? More likely, their sights did. They had seen it done. They believed they could do it —and so did the rest of the world.

Employees aren’t much different from those runners. They need managers who believe in them—and regularly tell them so. If a manager is convinced that the people in her group are first rate—and she regularly expresses this belief through recognition—they’ll reliably outperform a group whose manager believes the reverse, even if the innate talent of the two groups is similar.