A few weeks ago, when I had finished washing up, I towelled my face with more force than I needed to. I was not mindful of what I was doing – I was distracted by the problems I was facing with a bank account. Even as I finished up, I felt my face burn and sting. I looked into the towel I held in my hand, a very light green cloth, and saw a dash of red. In less than a second, my brain interpreted the red as a smear of blood and that I must have rubbed my face too vigorously. I flushed with anger at myself for being so careless. I calmed myself down for a few seconds and looked again at the towel. I now saw that the red streak was actually from a loose red thread from a different part of the towel. The acute burn on my face had primed my eyes and brain to see blood. Never mind that my near vision is near perfect; my eyes “told” me that I had hurt myself. It was a case of “you see what you expect to see.”
In cognitive psychology, priming is a technique in which the introduction of one stimulus influences how we respond to a subsequent stimulus, often without our conscious awareness. Priming works by activating an association or representation in memory just before another stimulus or task is introduced.
There are several examples of priming in our professional lives too. Here are a few examples:
- Interviewers who review a highly polished résumé before meeting a candidate are often primed to see them more positively—making it easier to overlook small gaffes in the interview.
- New employees who are introduced to the company through stories of innovation in the induction program are primed to value creativity and impact, influencing their behaviour and expectations from day one.
- In challenging times, leaders who start their meetings with words like, “This is not our first rodeo; I am sure we will overcome this challenge too,” prime their team members to adopt a mindset of resilience and confidence.
- When we recognize someone for agility, collaboration or ‘for going the extra mile,’ we are not just rewarding a person. We are also priming the rest of the team to notice and replicate these behaviours.
- When a leader begins a mentoring conversation with the words, “I am seeing that you are committed to your growth,” the protégé is primed to feel supported and more open to feedback.
Priming is subtle but powerful. It shapes how people interpret messages, react to challenges, engage with each other, and show up in high-stakes moments. We can use priming in a deliberate manner — through words, tone, examples, stories, and behaviour — to create an environment that promotes positive outcomes. I have learned to do a simple “check in” at the beginning of my mentoring sessions. By acknowledging our mood and our distractions, both my protégé and I are primed to manage our emotions better and bring focus to our sessions.
As a leader, how do you prime your team members in positive ways to become more effective? What are your success stories? I would love to hear them.
Reading this reminded me of a moment a few years ago when I was prepping to conduct a training session for a new team. I walked in thinking it was going to be a tough crowd. I had overheard someone say the team was ‘resistant to change’ and ‘tired of yet another workshop’. Just that passing comment had unknowingly primed me to enter the room guarded, almost bracing myself for indifference or pushback. I saw exactly what I expected to see, crossed arms, polite nods, silence when I asked questions. Then, during the first coffee break conversations, one of the participants shared how exhausted they were from a hectic week and back-to-back issue-handling. They were actually curious to explore the topic that was relevant to the current project, they were just low on energy.
It struck me then: I had to flip the switch and change my approach. As I read this article, it got me thinking, was it was my own priming that had filtered what I was seeing. When I shifted my approach in the second half, more humor, more storytelling, more pauses, the energy in the room changed completely.
Your post is a wonderful reminder of how much of our professional (and personal) experience is shaped not just by reality, but by the lens we bring to it. That check-in practice you mentioned is such a simple yet powerful way to reset that lens.
Nice perspective Ravi. Now, you have primed us for more such interesting blogs.
Amazing article, Ravi. While reading, I could already reflect on a lot of scenarios where I was primed by some external circumstances. My question is: Is there a way to prime ourselves? Either through speaking out loud or some other hack?
Thanks for the great question, Siddhant. And the short answer is yes, we can. Here are a few things we can do to prime ourselves:
1) Before a meeting starts, we can mentally go over all the preparatory work we have put in. This review will make us feel good about ourselves and pertinently, prime us to feel confident and competent.
2) Before we meet a person we don’t get along with, we can think of all that they have achieved. This will prime us to see that person in a more positive light.
3) When we identify things we can be grateful for, our attention is primed towards the positive aspects of our life.
We can also consciously set aside negative thoughts and opinions. I find they prime us in negative ways and prevent us from being totally effective in our work.
Very interesting. Very valuable.