The Power of Transferred Belief

Belief is fuel.

It moves people farther than talent, training, or even hard work. And sometimes the belief you need does not come from inside you. It comes from someone else.

Author Jon Gordon says, "Leadership is a transfer of belief.” He is right. Think about how many great stories begin with someone who believed in someone before they believed in themselves.

Denzel Washington tells one of those stories. In 1975, he was a young man working in his mother’s beauty shop. One afternoon, an older woman sat under the dryer and watched him walk by. She stopped him, took the dryer hood off her head, and said something that changed his life.

“Young man, I have a prophecy. You will travel the world and speak to millions of people.”

He had no plan. No clear direction. No idea what his future held. But in that moment, she gave him something he did not yet have. Belief. Belief is contagious when it is spoken with conviction.

I was reminded of this when I watched the movie King Richard with my 11-year-old daughter Lucy. You can debate the parenting decisions of Richard Williams. You can question his methods. But you cannot argue with the belief he transferred to Serena and Venus. He spoke greatness into them when they were young.

“You are going to be the greatest of all time.” or “You are going to change the sport.”

He knew their mind was as powerful as their forehand. He understood that belief is a seed. You have to plant it early and water it often.

And sometimes belief arrives later in life, when you least expect it.

Last week I finished delivering a workshop in Houston, and an older lady approached me afterward. She said, “John, that was great. Do you know what the Global Leadership Summit is?” I told her yes. She smiled and said, “One day you will be speaking on that stage. You are built for it.”

What she did not know is that I have dreamed of that stage for years. I have worked for it. But hearing her say those words hit differently. It was a transfer of belief. A reminder to keep developing my skills. To keep dreaming. To keep going. And as you might imagine, I told her thank you.

Belief always comes from a source. Someone has to speak it. Someone has to give it away. It is never too late to transfer belief to someone. Early is better, but it works on a forty-two-year-old too.

So here is the question worth asking today. Who are you going to transfer belief to?

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