The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

self fulfilling prophecyOver the last several weeks, I’ve been in a number of conversations where a person talked about how they couldn’t do something, or they see people behave toward them in a way that is in opposition to what they want. In each case, the person, when relaxed and in a positive frame of mind, did exactly what they said they couldn’t do. In focusing on what they didn’t want, they created a mindset that caused the exact results they said they didn’t want. A self-fulfilling prophecy. The miss is that if the focus was on the positive, so to would be the results.

This same approach happens in business. Whether a positive or a negative focus, the conditions are created to generate outcomes. They may be in opposition to the stated goals, because the focus is not put in the right place.  And amazingly, when the focus is on the positive with a can do attitude, the results follow. How do you ensure that you have the outcomes you want in your business and the self-fulfilling prophecy is the one you want?

Posted in Leadership, Strategy.