Core Memories, Kindness, and Leadership: What Grown-Ups Can Learn from 6th Grade Graduation

The Power of Childhood Lessons for Leadership

Not long ago, I stood in front of a group of bright, brave, nervous sixth graders on their graduation day. Their eyes were wide with excitement and uncertainty as they prepared to leave the only school they’d ever known. As I spoke to them about courage, kindness, and confidence, I realized: everything I wanted them to remember—adults need to remember too.

Why “Leadership Through Kindness” Matters

There’s something incredibly pure about childhood milestones. They strip away the noise and return us to the basics: Being kind, being brave, making someone feel seen. These are the things we celebrate in kids—and yet somewhere along the way, as we grow older, we start to undervalue them. We begin to measure success with titles, metrics, and salaries. But ask yourself: when was the last time someone made you feel like you belonged? Do you remember how powerful that felt?

Let’s go back for a moment.

Core Memories Shape Adult Empathy

Think about when you were a kid. Remember what it felt like to be the new student, the one who forgot their lunch, or the one who just needed someone to say, “Hey, you can sit with us.” Those small moments—those core memories—stick with us. As Maya Angelou so famously said:

“People will forget what you said, they’ll forget what you did, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.”

These are core memories—and they inform emotional intelligence and empathy in leadership. That’s not just true in childhood. It’s true in offices, in boardrooms, in families, and in leadership. As adults, we sometimes forget the extraordinary impact of ordinary kindness.

Leadership is Feeling, Not Just Doing

We focus on being productive—but forget to be present.
We strive to be right—but forget to be warm.
We try to lead—but forget to lift.

But the truth is, leadership is about how you make people feel.

Build Emotional Intelligence in Every Interaction

People won’t remember how fast you answered that email or whether you dominated the meeting. But they will remember if you gave them confidence when they doubted themselves. They’ll remember if you made space for their voice in the room. They’ll remember if you made them feel valued when they felt invisible.

In a world that is constantly shifting, where stress is high and empathy often feels low, it’s time we return to the basics we teach our kids.

Daily habits to strengthen empathy-based leadership that mirror what we learned in junior high

• Be the first to say hello
• Compliment someone without expecting anything in return.
• Choose courage over comfort.
• Share your light, especially when the room feels dark.

You don’t have to be the loudest or the smartest to lead. You just have to be someone who cares.

Creating Core Memories in the Workplace

Every day, you have the power to be someone’s core memory. You have the power to make people feel good, seen, confident, and worthy. And in doing so, you become the kind of leader the world desperately needs—one who leads not just with their head, but with their heart.

So today, let’s all remember the lessons we once learned in a classroom filled with cubbies, crayons, and chaos:

• Kindness matters.
• Empathy leads.
• Confidence grows when it’s shared.

Let your light shine—not because you need to be noticed, but because someone else might need help finding their way.

Here’s to building a world where empathy leads and adults remember what kids already know:

The best kind of success is making someone else feel like they belong.

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