Four Corporate Culture Lessons Inspired by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou wasn’t just an inspiring author and poet and a role model for breaking through racial, gender, dogma and intellectual barriers. She was also perhaps one of the most inspiring thinkers of this century. When you closely examine the impact of Angelou’s words, you will find that almost always we admired Angelou’s innate understanding of basic human nature, the intricate connection between what we communicate and what we mean to communicate, and the fact that humanity is at the core of all our success.

As a big fan of her poetry and wisdom, I thought we can collectively honor her memory on LinkedIn by sharing some of her best inspirational quotes that we as corporate communicators and managers can all use and apply in our daily interactions, as they are ever-lasting, like fine wine or classical music that withstand the test of time, elements and political correctness at any given moments.

1. Courage in the Workplace: Maya Angelou proclaimed,“Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because, without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.” Imagine if we, as professional managers, were courageous in our communications and articulation of our ideas. If we didn’t only fold every time, an office conflict arose.

2. Making Mistakes & Owning Them: Maya Angelou said,“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” Imagine if, we, as managers, lived our corporate lives by the principal that making mistakes and learning from our defeats is a ‘good thing’ and a growth opportunity to become better professionals.

3. Turnaround Management & The Power of Positive Thinking: Maya Angelou stated, “In all my work, I try to say - 'you may be given a load of sour lemons, why not try to make a dozen lemon meringue pies?'” Imagine if instead of focusing on the failures in your company, you used it as a learning opportunity to create sweet moments of success.

4. The Value of a Good Brand & Reputation. Maya Angelou said, “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.” Imagine if your customer service organization lived by that mantra. Would it impact your brand?

Maya Angelou may be physically gone, but her intellectual might and spirited memory will endure for generations and will certainly inspire people, in many walks of life, to be better people through her ever-lasting wisdom.

About The Author: Mr. Gal Borenstein (@galborenstein) is the CEO and Chief Strategy Officer of the Borenstein Group, a Northern Virginia-based integrated digital marketing communications agency supporting emerging innovators and industry leaders in Information Technology, Management Consulting, Logistics & Supply Chain Management and Professional Services.