3 Ways to Use Self-Fulfilling Prophecy to Your Leadership Advantage

Self-fulfilling prophecy can be a potent tool for the success of not only ourselves but our teams as well.

In the following post, Arden’s coaches explore how declaring positivity can help you position mind over matter for the good of your leadership development and the inspiration of your team. Here are 3 ways to use self-fulfilling prophecy to your leadership advantage.

1. Realize that Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Are More Common than You Think

A self-fulfilling prophecy involves declaring something and then fulfilling that declaration. So maybe you slept poorly last night and now you’re expecting to have a bad day. A thought as small as this can cause you to subconsciously take actions that cause a bad day to happen.

While some believe that a prophecy needs to be spoken out loud to be valid, quiet self-fulfilling prophecies take shape all the time in your mind as thoughts.

2. Strive to Make Yours Positive

If we can retrain our brains to operate in a positive mindset or prophecy mode instead of a negative one, the outcomes will be more in line with what we want. But because we’re our own worst critics, rewiring our self-fulfilling prophecies into positive ones is easier said than done.

For helpful tips and tricks to try to get your brain thinking positive, check out this post on positive psychology by fellow Arden coach Kathy Poehnert.

3. Paint that Picture to Others

So how can we use our positive self-fulfilling prophecies to help us be stronger leaders? A big part of our jobs as leaders is conveying what it’ll look like when we achieve a certain goal. If you think about it, this practice of visualizing something we want is like a group prophecy, or a self-fulfilling prophecy that’s shared with others.

We all want the people who work for us to be passionate, and the most effective way to make them passionate is to paint a picture of the end goal. With a vivid, positive, inspirational picture of what’s waiting at the finish line in mind, people are more likely to illicit an emotional response and take the actions that go along with it. The steps it takes to get there naturally follow suit.

Positive Shared Prophecies Inspire Teams

Remember, leadership isn’t just about being a cheerleader who sets up positive expectations. Positivity is a powerful tool that should undoubtedly be in your leadership arsenal because of its science-backed impact on the way we think, act, and feel.

When you’re able to take being positive, apply it to a fully realized vision, and communicate that vision to others in a way that they can get behind, the potential of a shared prophecy truly knows no bounds.

As coaches, we talk about fulfillment with our clients quite a bit. We start by setting the end goal and then work backwards from it. If you’re interested in advancing your leadership skills, self-awareness, and perspective, contact us to see how we can help!