How does your work make others feel?
The work we do really matters, but we don't think often enough how it truly impacts people.
People are trained to talk about their work as if they are drilling into their resume. They supported this, they managed that, they executed on this-other-thing.
But it doesn’t seem at all like we take enough time to talk about how our work impacts people and makes them feel.
What did you do this year so far? What did you do last year?
What emotions did you bring out and what pains did you alleviate?
I took some time after seeing an emotions wheel and wondered what it would this look like if we took emotions and related them to the actions people take.
So I made an impact wheel.
If you are adjusting your resume for the thousandth time, consider some of the joy, relief, and excitement you have brought people over your career. You probably won’t list this on your resume, but it would be useful to use in conversations.
Consider if someone at a family gathering asks you what you do. Your auntie might remember you are a data analyst if you say ‘I bring a sense of confidence to companies through forecasting’. It might also make you feel better and have a different way to position what you truly bring to a company. Your boss should know what you do, but if you frame it in terms of the painful emotion you alleviate and the joyful emotions you bring by doing the thing, that might go a lot farther in your one on ones, promotion conversations, and at the company holiday party when you get in front of the owner.
I hope this gives anyone seeking a job or feeling burnt out a little bit of a boost.
So, for example, if you:
➡️ reengineered the inventory system, you likely brought empowerment and alleviated frustration.
➡️strategized on and launched a market-entry plan, you might have reduced uncertainty and overwhelm, fostering confidence and optimism.
➡️negotiated contracts, you maybe alleviated tension and disempowerment, resulting in harmony and mutual respect.
This graphic draws on broad insights from business communication and career development principles. So there's probably some room for errors here, but that's not the point. The point is thinking differently about the impact you bring.
Impact isn’t just about the skills we use to solve the problem, but how it makes people feel.
What this little exercise taught me is we don't focus enough on what we really bring to people when we focus, use our skills, and work together.
We talk a lot about metrics to measure impact of someone's work, which are important.
But next time you do something, or someone does something for you - think about the positive emotions around it and the pain it alleviates. Ask how it made people feel.
If we connect our actions with emotions and pains more often, maybe it'll make our teams tighter, our work feel more impactful, and our careers more joyful when things get difficult.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
― Maya Angelou
Follow me on LinkedIn for tips on how to show your skills, articulate the value you bring, and generally feel good about the work you do. Because what you do is amazing and means a lot.
