3 days ago
Why Belief Might Be Your Team's Most Underrated Performance Tool
David Meade is one of the world's leading keynote speakers, trusted by Fortune 500 brands to inspire their people.
I've spent the past decade traveling the world, delivering more than 150 keynotes a year to some of the world's most ambitious, high-performing organizations. I've shared stages with global leaders, heard the unfiltered doubts of frontline teams and witnessed the epidemic sweeping modern workplaces.
It's not burnout. It's not skill gaps. It's belief. More precisely, belief's slow—yet unmistakable—erosion.
At a time when everything feels in flux (economies, technologies, patterns of work), teams are increasingly tempted to think smaller, to hedge their bets and expect less. But here's what I've come to realize about high performance: Our belief about what's possible is often more influential than what's actually possible.
Now, before you mistake this for motivational fluff, let me reassure you: I'm not asking you to chant affirmations in front of a mirror or hug a tree. This is real science. And some of the most fascinating research I've encountered lately sits at the convergence of performance psychology and something we usually associate with medicine: the placebo effect.
Belief Is The Real Drug
Let's start with a wild one.
In a Minnesota clinical trial testing antidepressants, a participant overdosed on what he believed was the active drug. He collapsed with all the classic symptoms (low blood pressure, vomiting) and required hospitalization. The medical team treated him aggressively for four hours until they called the trial organizer.
That's when they discovered something remarkable. The patient had been taking sugar pills. The moment he was told this, his symptoms vanished almost instantly.
That's the nocebo effect—the evil twin of the placebo. Both share one thing: the extraordinary power of belief to influence biology.
And it doesn't stop at the hospital doors.
Designer Sunglasses, Real Results
In another study, participants were given identical sunglasses but told they were either high-end or budget-brand versions. Then they were asked to read aloud under bright sunlight. Those who believed they were wearing the premium brand read faster and made fewer errors.
They didn't just 'think', 'feel', or 'believe' they were performing better; they were demonstrating marked and measurable improvement. Their belief changed their posture, focus and engagement. All without a single change to the product.
It's a tidy metaphor for performance in your workplace. What if your team's 'tools' haven't changed, but their belief in those tools or themselves has?
Sing Like You Mean It
Harvard Business School ran one of my favorite studies of all time using the world's most scientifically terrifying task: karaoke.
Participants were divided into three groups before being asked to sing Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'.' Before gracing the stage, one group was told to recite repeatedly 'I'm nervous,' another said 'I'm excited,' and a separate control group said nothing.
All experienced the same physiological symptoms—racing heart, clammy palms—but the 'I'm excited' group outperformed everyone else, scoring 81% on vocal accuracy compared to just 69% in the 'I'm nervous' group.
Same person. Same day. Same circumstances. Different belief. Better performance.
This has nothing to do with karaoke and everything to do with reappraising anxiety as energy. It's a trick I now use myself before going on stage. That heart-thumping feeling before a big audience? I don't fight it. I frame it.
The Batman Effect Is Real
The placebo effect isn't just about pills. It's about adopting mindsets that give us permission to level up.
Take the 'Batman Effect,' where kids imagining themselves as someone brave (like Batman) persist longer and perform better when tested. Adults need the same trick.
In one study, adults in flight simulators were told to act like professional pilots. Those who took the role seriously actually performed better on vision tests afterward. Their eyesight didn't improve. Their belief did.
Here's a fun corporate exercise: Ask your team, 'How would the best in our industry handle this?' What would Serena do? What would Tesla's product team do? What would Batman do?
They don't need a mask and a cape. They need a task and a belief.
Expectations Shape Outcomes
Consider the Pygmalion Effect. Teachers were told certain students (chosen at random) were gifted. Those supposedly virtuosic students later outperformed their peers, not because they were smarter, but because they were treated like they were.
This is why leaders must marshall their own emotional leakage on a journey to high performance.
Saying, 'Let's manage expectations. It's a tough year,' may feel honest. But what your team hears is permission to underperform. You've handed out a psychological pass to fall short.
And performance, like belief, trickles down.
Frame Belief Carefully
Let's be clear: This isn't about toxic positivity. I'm not suggesting we celebrate saving on heating bills while our house is burning down. That's demoralizing.
What I'm advocating is intentional framing.
So, instead of shielding your team from challenges, reframe them. 'This client feedback stings, but it's insight we'd never get otherwise.' 'This quarter was brutal, but it has exposed exactly where we need to focus.'
My Own Placebo Moment
Years ago, in my twenties, I decided I wanted a TV show. With no broadcast experience, I told my mum I was going to pitch one to the BBC.
She said, 'Oh no, what if they say no?'
I didn't reply, but I remember thinking, 'Yeah, but what if they say yes?'
I pulled together a team, pitched the idea, and five weeks later, the BBC commissioned the show. It ran for several seasons and changed the trajectory of my career.
The only difference between yes and no was belief. I nearly didn't do it. I nearly let someone else's worry become my truth.
Lead Like A Placebo
In the most uncertain of times, your job isn't to predict the future. It's to shape what people believe is possible within it.
So, here's your placebo checklist:
• Model belief. Your team needs to see confidence, not just hear it.
• Share progress. Tell stories of people succeeding under pressure. It becomes contagious.
• Reframe the narrative. Especially when things go sideways.
• Don't fake it, focus it. Direct energy toward what can be learned, gained or grown.
Ultimately, the total effect of anything—your leadership, your performance, your outcomes—is a combination of what you do and what you believe about what you're doing.
And that, my friends, is the science of belief. Placebo or not, it works.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
