Teams pick up their leader’s words. Say “we’re bad at this” enough and they’ll believe it.

Groups borrow their self-description from whoever speaks with the most authority, and they borrow it without noticing. A throwaway line about how hopeless you all are at something gets repeated, then expected, then performed, because people play to the story they were handed. Saying it does not describe the team so much as help build it.

Listen to your own sentences for a day and count the ones that assume failure. Replace the worst with something specific and true, like naming the part that needs work. Teams can hear the difference between honest and resigned.