How You Make People Feel

Maya Angelou famously said, "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." This month’s leadership blog is a list of feelings you can instill when you lead and manage well.

1. Safe - mentally and physically

Feeling physically and emotionally safe helps us all to show up as our best selves, in order to perform the tasks in front of us, in order to learn and grow.

2. Like you’re ‘enough’

Feeling like you’re ‘enough’ is a sense that the efforts you just made and can’t change are enough. This doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from our mistakes or that we won’t do better next time, but it does mean that we accept what we can’t change, and learn and grow so that we can do better, be better next time.

3. Included

Feeling welcome and included as part of the team helps us align to others, serve others, while making direct contributions for the good of the team.

4. Accepted and Confident

Feeling fully accepted for who we are, feeling supported and embraced through ups and downs, feeling that others have our back helps everyone to better think, speak and act with more confidence.

5. Committed and Connected 

Feeling committed and connected creates a longer-term commitment to a team and a common purpose. 

6. Curious and Courageous

Feeling connected to a team, and committed to a cause helps us be curious about how we can each make a contribution, and, if we are also feeling safe, welcome and accepted it helps us be more bold and more courageous as we participate.

7. Collaborative and Empowered

Feeling all of the above emboldens us to experiment with being more collaborative, empowering us to reach higher and do more.

Continuing to feel all of the above will help us be more resourceful and more resilient as we work on delivering actionable results, serving a common purpose.

As a leader and manager, you can help others around you remember you in a positive light, with fondness, by contributing to a virtuous cycle where we each feel like a part of something larger than ourselves.