 What if I told you that there are two things you can do in five minutes or less that will make you better at everything you do? Hi there, I'm Stephanie Slokum, founder of EngineersRising.com. I'm excited to be a guest contributor for this week's Monday Morning Motivator, hosted by the Engineering Management Institute. Today, I want to share a quote I love by Maya Angelou. People will forget what you said. But people will never forget how you made them feel. Now, I don't know about you, but no one ever told me in engineering school that I should be concerned with how I make people feel. One of the reasons I was drawn to engineering to begin with was because I love the certainty of the right answer to a math or science problem. Two plus two equals four, right? Easy. But in real life, we know it's rarely that simple. For example, two hours of meetings plus two hours of checking emails does not equal four hours of quality work, does it? And sometimes we get so focused on measurable outcomes being productive and meeting deadlines that we forget to be intentional about how we are showing up at work. For example, have you ever given unsolicited advice and then been surprised when the person you were talking to got upset? Have you ever argued with someone just to prove that you were right? Have you ever been so focused on a deadline that you didn't say thank you to another team member who helped you? Or even worse, thought to yourself, it's their job to do this work, so I don't need to say thank you. We forget that outcomes don't complete projects. We forget that outcomes aren't creative and they certainly don't have innovative ideas. People do. And down the road, those people, well, they won't remember the exact tasks they completed or the exact date of that deadline, but they will distinctly remember how you made them feel good or bad when they worked with you. That's why we need to be intentional about how we show up at work and in the world. Are we showing up as the best of ourselves? Are we bringing out the best in those who we work with? Or are we squandering an opportunity? Fortunately, there are two quick and easy ways you can flex your intention muscle so that you can show up as the best of yourself and be seen as the leader that you are. First is to actually set an intention. Before you interact with someone, think about how you want to show up. For example, let's say I'm going into a particularly difficult conversation. Maybe a team member's underperforming or I am walking into a client meeting that I know is going to be contentious. I can think to myself, I am going to show up in this meeting with curiosity and empathy. I'm going to listen before judging and I want everyone to walk out of this interaction feeling heard and understood no matter the outcome for them. This results in a very different meeting outcome. As compared to if I go into this same meeting thinking my underperforming team member, they seem to be slacking and they better have a good excuse and get themselves straightened out ASAP or this client is really difficult. I'm going to prove to them that I'm right and that we should go in the direction I want. I personally know that if I'm not purposeful about my intentions and disciplined in setting an intention before an interaction, I'm much more likely to default to that negative judgmental or how can I fix them type thoughts, none of which are helpful in most conversations. Taking a minute to set that intention before walking into those situations makes all the difference. The second thing you can do is start a gratitude practice. Every day write down three things for which you are grateful. This practice goes hand in hand with setting an intention because when you appreciate the positive aspects of your situation, it rewires the brain to expect positive results. It reinforces the subconscious effects of setting an intention acting as positive reinforcement for your brain. Being intentional about how you show up in the world improves your outcomes in every area of your life. Why? Because every time you interact with someone, they are left with a feeling. Choose to be intentional so that you show up as that person and that leader that you want to be. As Brené Brown has said, leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior. Which will you choose? Before you go, I invite you to subscribe to this Monday Morning Motivator playlist for your weekly inspiration. My friends over at the Engineering Management Institute help engineers and technical professionals become better leaders. But through these Monday Morning Motivators, they inspire people to be the best people they can be.