Success Impulse: Do you have problems with your feeling?
"People will forget what you say and forget what you do ... but they will never forget the feeling you gave them" is a rather famous quote by Maya Angelou, a US author, professor and civil rights activist. And the basis for a new impulse for success.
"People will forget what you say and forget what you do ... but they will never forget the feeling you gave them": this is relevant whenever you want to get others to take action or influence them. And this is one of your main tasks as a leader.
Trigger the right feeling
You can talk as much as you want, even do the right and important things, the impact on others will always be limited compared to when you trigger certain feelings in others.
Example: If others feel safe with you to say what they think and dare to try new things without fearing sarcastic comments, they will try more. If people feel a sense of departure with the prospect of new fascinating experiences, they will go the distance.
The biggest problem with this is often that people are afraid that their feelings may be hurt, that the security was only apparent, that the vision was not serious. In other words, that their feelings will be disappointed.
Using the power of feelings
If this seems too "soft" for leadership, I can assure you that these are exactly the "hard facts" that cause projects and strategies to fail. Here are three short ideas on how you can use the power of feelings for your leadership:
- The Why. For each change, clarify with your team why it feels better when we have achieved our goals or vision. What is different there for each individual? Why is this good and important?
- The demands. How do you want to think and behave? What demands do you make on yourself? Demands are always associated with feelings. Examples: We want to have fun in what we do. Each of us takes full responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Everyone tries to understand the others.
- The successes. Most people give far too little credit to successes. Why is that important? Successes and failures trigger feelings. That's why consistent recognition (even on a small scale) is a very easy lever for good feelings.
Emotions play an important role not only at this time of year, but at every time of our lives. With logic you make people think, with emotions you make them act. Take advantage of that in the new year!
To the author:
Volkmar Völzke is a success maximizer. Book author. Consultant. Coach. Speaker. www.volkmarvoelzke.ch
