Do You Believe in Magic? The Power of Belief in Change

In 1965, the singing group the Lovin’ Spoonful sang “Do You Believe in Magic?”  Part of the lyrics go, “Believe in the magic that can set you free.”  When it comes to strategic planning, Corporate America doesn’t usually include the phrase “believe in magic and our strategic goals will set you free.”  Career builders typically don’t include a phrase on their resume reading, “believe me, I’m magical, and my work will set you free.” Don’t we wish both were true?

There is Magic in Believing

Organizational leadership makes changes basing those changes on business decisions they believe are best for business. Changes typically involve many factors. One of the main factors in any business decision are your people. While leadership may believe the changes are “magical” and that employees will “magically” implement those changes, just snapping your fingers and springling fairy dust over their heads, won’t accomplish those goals. – believe me!

The questions to ask are, have you had successful changes in the past? Do your people have reason to believe that changes are necessary and that they will work? Do employees believe that changes will have a positive or negative impact on their performance or career goals? Will teams believe that changes will help to stay or become high performing teams? The “magic” happens when leaders and employees believe that change has been successful in the past, is relevant, and will be good for the future.

Confidence is Catching

Yes, even organizations can have cultures of confidence. However, it must begin with people. Not with just those in power, with a string of letters after their names, but with everyone. You may ask, “Is it really the company’s job to instill confidence in our employees?” A better question might be, “Why isn’t it?” Years ago, when working for Radisson Hotels, our customer service slogan was “Yes, I Can!” The premise, of course, is that a guest making a request of any employee, received a response of, “Yes, I Can!” The Ritz Carlton has the more elegant “Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen” with the response, “My pleasure.”

People must have the self-confidence and the self-esteem laced with the belief that they can deliver an elevated level of customer service. Therefore, the organization has the responsibility of creating an organization with a reputation that enhances employees’ self-esteem and confidence.

Leaders Leading Future Leaders

Why would an organization attract or internally promote people who have no self-esteem, self-confidence, or who don’t believe they can set and achieve goals? The organization will quickly fail without confident leadership who believe they are good strategic thinkers who believe in themselves, the company’s products or services, and their people. Therefore, building high performing teams is important, and why helping people build better careers to become members of high performing team members is critical. Employees who believe in their organization’s leadership want to emulate those leaders and this, in turn, just like magic, creates a solid plan of succession. Here the question to ask is, “How can they believe in you if you don’t believe in them?” Believing in them will set you free from many business obstacles to success. Believe me, it’s not only magical, but also powerful. If you would like help on team and career building, Let's get started

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