✨ Start Well and Finish Better: The Power of Initial Emotion in Leadership
In my consulting and training work with OSM I often come across excellent companies, close-knit teams, ambitious projects.
But if there's one thing that distinguishes the healthiest and best performing organizations from all the others, it's not just procedures, resources, or budgets.
AND the way they welcome what is new.
New people. New roles. New teams. New challenges.
This is where you see the difference between ordinary leadership… and leadership that leaves its mark.
When a person enters, a possibility also enters
Every new arrival — an intern, a middle manager, a strategic figure — is a small earthquake.
It disrupts habits, raises the stakes, rewrites dynamics.
Nevertheless, It is in that first impact that the future trajectory is written.
A question every manager should keep in mind:
👉 “What is the first emotion I made him feel?”
Whether it's cold, distance, pressure or disinterest… that imprint remains.
If instead it is esteem, curiosity, acceptance, trust… everything changes.
In companies where work is done well, this is not left to chance.
You can see and feel that the entrance is a ritual. Not an improvisation.
But it doesn't just apply to people. It applies to All what's new
How you launch a project, introduce a change, build a new team… is an act of emotional leadership.
And it works exactly like with people:
💡 If the new is born in an emotional void, it will struggle to take root.
💡 If it starts with enthusiasm, clarity and connection… it generates value faster.
One of the most beautiful cases I have followed in the last few months was in a B2B tech company, medium size, young and motivated team.
In September they launched a new cross-functional project, with people from marketing, sales, product and operations.
They could have started with a technical briefing, a shared document and gone.
Instead, no.
The CEO has chosen to start with an informal meeting, in a circle, without slides or KPIs.
Just one question:
“Why this project concerns us Truly? And what impact do we want to leave behind?”
Shared values, personal stories, small fears, great motivations emerged.
And from there, the project traveled at twice the speed. With half the friction.
Numbers come later. Climate comes first.
Science confirms it (and practice also): when a leader expresses positive emotions at the start of a path, the performance grows.
It happens because people feel valued, seen, respected. And they do everything they can to maintain that perception of themselves over time.
Then, of course: there will be time for feedback, to raise the bar, to fix things that don't work.
But if the base is positive, the team holds. And raises.
Start with care, reap with strength
That's why I'm not leaving you with a to-do list today.
I leave you with two questions:
🟡 When something new starts — a role, a project, a relationship — What kind of climate do you create?
🟡 And what if you spent 15 more minutes, at the beginning, to build an emotional connection before an operational one?
In business, as in life, It's not true that it only matters how it ends. It matters most how it begins.
🚀 Want to read another reflection on the human side of work?
Read also this article:
👉 The Hidden Cost of Success: When Numbers Smile, But People Don't
English 
Italian