Welcome to the Brilliance Brief. Every week, we break down leadership, mindset, and personal growth into something real and doable. Expect research-backed insights, a little storytelling, and practical ideas that actually fit into your life (even the messy parts).

In 1975, a Chicago teacher named Marva Collins became frustrated with the public school system. 

She felt it had given up on too many kids. 

So she started her own.

Many of the students who came to her had struggled in traditional classrooms. They had been labeled “disabled” or “unteachable.”

Collins saw something different.

She gave them material most adults would have assumed was far beyond them. Shakespeare. Chaucer. Tolstoy.

And she expected them to learn it.

By 3rd grade, her students were reading Shakespeare and giving oral reports on it every two weeks.

Collins’ philosophy was simple: we rise or fall to the expectations placed on us.

Researchers have studied this for decades. They call it the Pygmalion effect.

When you believe someone is capable of more, they tend to rise toward it. 

Your expectation becomes something they can borrow until they build their own.

There’s another side of the Pygmalion Effect called the Golem Effect. Tell someone they can’t, and they’ll usually agree with you.

I’ve been lucky to have great managers and mentors who gave me opportunities before I felt ready for them.

Several years ago, I casually mentioned to my manager that I’d run a 5k.

To me that was enormous. I’d been a couch potato my whole life.

He’d run 19 marathons. I had no idea.

He told me to train for a half marathon. Pick any race in the country and he’d meet me there.

I picked Moab. He flew from Florida to Utah, ran the whole thing with me, and left for the airport when it was over.

I never would have signed up on my own. I didn’t think I was a person who could run 13 miles.

He did. And he was right.

1. Give someone a stretch assignment.

Think about something important you’re planning to handle yourself. Who on your team could do it with a little support?

Let them lead the client call. Own the presentation. Run the meeting. Take responsibility for the project.

Make the reason explicit:

“I’m giving this to you because I think you’re ready for it.”

2. Tell people what you see before they see it.

We tend to save positive feedback for something someone has already accomplished. 

Instead, tell them upfront. 

“You’re really good at bringing clarity when everyone else is overcomplicating things. I think you could lead this.”

“You handle difficult conversations well. I could see you managing a team someday.”

One of the most powerful things a leader can do is put words around a strength someone hasn’t recognized in themselves yet.

They may remember that sentence for years.

3. Resist the urge to rescue them.

This one is hard.

You give someone a bigger opportunity. They struggle. You know you could jump in and fix it in 10 minutes.

Give them a little longer. Ask, “What do you think we should do?” Let them wrestle with the problem.

Every time you immediately rescue someone, you accidentally send a message: You needed me.

Every time you support them while they figure it out, the message changes: You can handle hard things.

This works outside the office too. Your kids hear what you think they’re capable of. So does your spouse. 

Think about one person you lead, parent, mentor, or love.

What do you think they’re capable of that they might not see yet?

Tell them. Better yet, give them an opportunity to prove it to themselves.

“I think you’re ready for this.”

“You can handle this.”

“I know you can do it.”

Sometimes we need someone else to see our potential before we can see it ourselves.

Be that person for someone this week.

Talk soon,
Justin

P.S. What’s one book you loved as a kid? 

Hit “reply.” I’m building a list for my 6-year-old daughter.