Babies between 9 and 12 months are placed on a plexiglass tabletop to see if they will crawl all the way across. Underneath it is a red and white checkerboard pattern. About mid-way across, the pattern appears to drop off to the base of the floor (“a visual cliff”) but it is safe for the baby as the plexiglass itself continues. Will the babies keep crawling forward?

A parent is placed at the other end of the table while making facial expressions that reflect a smile and encouragement or “a fear face.” No words are used. So which caused a greater likelihood of the child to take the risk all the way across? Babies who locked into a “smile face” did! In fact, they didn’t even look down at the dip and crawled right over it!

As Joseph explains in An Experiment by Joseph Campos The Visual Cliff YouTube, “This study demonstrates the role of nonverbal communication in determining the child’s behavior in uncertain contexts.” If a child is uncertain in such times, he/she will look to the “significant other” to determine the next step.

I invite you to close your eyes. Bring yourself to the earliest time you can recall of being an infant, perhaps before you could walk. If you cannot remember, then bring yourself to the first time you were about to take a risk or try something new as a child. How did your “significant other” that is, your mom, dad, grandparent, or care-giver respond? Take a few minutes to reflect internally on what images come up for you.

Did you grow up in an environment that felt positive to take chances, to go for it, and even if you fell, you were reinforced to get back up and try again? What adjectives come to mind? Are there any descriptors true of your leadership style today? Are you an encourager, a “smile face” or a “fear face” or the face of apprehension? Does your leadership style inspire your team to move forward even through uncertainty?

For some of you, the answer is YES! For others, this may spark a curiosity about your nurturing and how it has permeated your own career or how you have approached life overall. So here’s the best news. You get to reparent yourself in the areas you feel were lacking. You have a capable mind that is malleable, and that means you have the choice to resolve these voids. Simply:

  1. Close your eyes.
  2. Bring back to mind the first time you needed that “smile face” of encouragement.
  3. On the other end, replace the significant other with the adult you are today. Lock eyes!
  4. What does your expression want to tell that kid? Go BIG! It’s great for training your brain and replacing unhelpful associations with what you desire to create instead.
  5. Feel yourself as that child again and relish in the excitement that you can do this.
  6. See yourself taking every step towards the end goal.
  7. At the end, grab hold of that child and celebrate. What does he/she know now that you wish to incorporate into your leadership style?

Every one of us has that kid within. The same is true for those we manage. When we begin to resolve these voids, we can access those traits that are more effective at motivating human behavior to excel. Our team develops skills to see the dip and walk right over it, with a wider view of what is possible.