Could you not just replace “I believe in” with “I value”? What would be different about the meaning? If I value something, I would also invest in it. What am I not seeing?
“I believe in this team, and believe in our ability to execute on our goals” does not naturally translate into “I value this team, and value our ability to execute on our goals”.
My read is that the former communicates that you’d like to invest really hard in the assumption that this team and its ability to execute are extremely high, and invest in efforts to realize this outcome; and my read is that the latter is just stating that it’s currently high and that’s good.
Surely it’s obvious that these are all examples of what we in the business call a figure of speech. When somebody says “I believe in you!” they’re offering reassurance by expressing confidence in you, as a person, or your abilities.
This is covered under most definitions of belief as: 2. Trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. (a la Oxford Languages)
Hmm the meanings are not perfectly identical. For some things, like “believe in the environment” vs “I value the environment” they pretty much are.
But for things like “I believe in you,” it does not mean the same thing as “I value you.” It implies “I value you,” but it means something more. It is meant to signal something to the other person.
Could you not just replace “I believe in” with “I value”? What would be different about the meaning? If I value something, I would also invest in it. What am I not seeing?
“I believe in this team, and believe in our ability to execute on our goals” does not naturally translate into “I value this team, and value our ability to execute on our goals”.
My read is that the former communicates that you’d like to invest really hard in the assumption that this team and its ability to execute are extremely high, and invest in efforts to realize this outcome; and my read is that the latter is just stating that it’s currently high and that’s good.
Surely it’s obvious that these are all examples of what we in the business call a figure of speech. When somebody says “I believe in you!” they’re offering reassurance by expressing confidence in you, as a person, or your abilities.
This is covered under most definitions of belief as:
2. Trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. (a la Oxford Languages)
Hmm the meanings are not perfectly identical. For some things, like “believe in the environment” vs “I value the environment” they pretty much are.
But for things like “I believe in you,” it does not mean the same thing as “I value you.” It implies “I value you,” but it means something more. It is meant to signal something to the other person.