Teaching middle schoolers is one of the most demanding communication environments on the planet. If you can hold a room full of twelve-year-olds who would rather be anywhere else, you can hold any room. This is the second installment of a series I started about what corporate leaders can learn from the classroom, and this one focuses on a concept that is both straightforward and radically underused in most workplaces: knowing your Why, and being willing to share it.
(This post is a continuation of the series started with Part 1.)
The Classroom That Changed My Corporate Perspective
A few years ago, I made the transition from a Fortune 50 management role to a middle school Engineering teacher. I expected the classroom to be simpler than the boardroom. It wasn't. The dynamics were just as layered, the challenge of earning buy-in was just as real, and the feedback loop was far more immediate. Pre-teens have no patience for inauthenticity. They will show you, through body language, tone, or the simple act of tuning out, when you've lost them. That directness became the most valuable professional development I've ever received.
The lesson I want to share in this installment is one I was forced to learn quickly: knowing your Why, and connecting it to the people around you, changes everything about your ability to influence. This applies every bit as much in a corporate environment as it does in a Robotics classroom.
The Student Who Wasn't Supposed to Stay
On my first day of teaching Robotics, I got every student seated except for one young lady waiting to speak to me. "I won't be in here long. I didn't sign up for Robotics. I wanted to be in choir instead."
Schedule conflicts in the first weeks of school are routine. Teachers navigate a constant shuffle of student reassignments, so this wasn't a surprise. "No problem," I said. "Maybe just have a seat for today, and who knows, maybe you'll end up not wanting to change."
"Um, no. I don't belong in here. But I'll sit down for now."
To her credit, even though she didn't want to be there, she listened that first day and participated in the activities. I noticed in her lab notebook that she had already started doodling and drawing, which I actively encourage in students and adults alike as a way to foster creative thinking. I asked if she liked to draw.
"Yeah, it's what I do for fun, along with singing."
Well played.
Finding Her Why
It turned out she loved art. And not by accident, I had already planted a seed earlier in class that connected directly to that: the "A" in STEAM.
Most people are familiar with STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM has been a beacon for students who've felt their interests were underrepresented in school. But it leaves out a significant dimension of what engineering actually requires. My school taught STEAM, with the "A" standing for Art. No product is ever designed without an artist or industrial designer behind it. On that first day, I made a point of emphasizing how central art is to the engineering process and how we'd use it throughout the class.
At the end of the period, I asked how it went. "OK, I guess. Too bad I won't be here long."
At Parent Night that week, I met her mother. I mentioned I was working on connecting her daughter to the class, and her mother told me something that stopped me mid-sentence: Robotics was the only class her daughter talked about at home.
She never transferred out. By the end of the year, she had earned the award for top Robotics student in the class. I didn't "sell" her on Robotics. I found out what already motivated her, and I made sure she could see that motivation reflected in what we were doing together. Knowing why others do what they do, and being willing to share your own Why, is one of the most powerful tools available to any professional who leads, collaborates, or influences.
The Neuroscience of Why We Do What We Do
Neuroscientists have spent decades studying how the brain works, and a growing body of research now focuses specifically on the science of decision-making: why we do what we do, when we do it. Jeff Bloomfield, in his book NeuroSelling, explains a potentially counterintuitive reality about how humans make decisions, whether it's which product to buy, whether to trust a colleague, or what kind of work we choose to show up for.
The key, according to Jeff, is sequence. Before logic can do anything meaningful, an emotional connection has to be established first. The limbic and root parts of the brain, which govern emotion and instinct, need to be engaged before the neo-cortex, the analytical decision-making layer, can recruit information to validate a choice. Without that initial emotional connection, a decision never gets activated. You can have the most compelling data in the room, and it still won't move anyone.
How the Brain Actually Makes Decisions
This framework matters in the workplace because it runs directly counter to how most professionals are trained to communicate. We lead with data. We build decks full of metrics. We craft logical arguments as if persuasion is purely a rational exercise. But logic is not where decisions begin. Emotion is.
The limbic brain processes emotional input before the neo-cortex even enters the conversation. If someone doesn't feel a connection to you, to your purpose, or to the reasoning behind your ask, the rational case you make has nowhere solid to land. You're building on a foundation that doesn't exist yet.
The best way to establish that emotional foundation, Jeff teaches, is to clarify why you do what you do. In teaching, this translated directly. We talked to students about why we became teachers. We tried to show up as full humans rather than authority figures issuing directives, and we spoke to them about their Why. We wanted them to understand how the work they were doing in the classroom connected to real choices they'd have later in life. We were trying to reach the limbic brain before we ever asked the neo-cortex to process anything.
Your Why at Work
So here is the question worth sitting with: does your team, your supervisor, or your workgroup know why you have the job you have?
Did you enter your industry because of a teacher, professor, or mentor who redirected your path? Was this an opportunity to live in a place that matters to you, or to provide for your family in the way you always intended? Are you wired to compete and energized by a field that rewards performance?
Most professionals know their own answers to these questions. Most have never shared them with a single colleague.
In the classroom, I was deliberate about being a complete person to my students. Not just the person who assigned the work and gave the grades. The moment I shared why teaching mattered to me personally, the tone of the room shifted. Students didn't suddenly become effortless to work with, but they were more willing to engage, more likely to give me the benefit of the doubt, and more open to finding their own connection to the material.
That's influence. And it starts with your Why.
What Changes When People Know Your Why
If no one you work with is emotionally connected to your Why, influencing will feel like an uphill effort. Getting someone to support your business plan, rally behind an initiative, or simply help you out on a project will feel like a negotiation every time. The friction is real, and it accumulates.
But once your coworkers understand more about who you are and why you do what you do, something shifts. They're more likely to step in without being asked. They're more likely to advocate for your ideas when you're not in the room. And when things don't go according to plan, they're more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt rather than assume the worst.
This is the engine of workplace trust. Trust is not built through competence alone. Competence earns respect; emotional connection earns commitment. And emotional connection requires knowing why the person across from you shows up every day.
The good news is that the path forward is simple, even if it requires a moment of openness. Write down your Why. Share it with a colleague. Then ask them theirs. And when they answer, practice the one skill that most professionals are surprisingly underdeveloped in: listening without already formulating your response while they're still talking.
Key Concepts and Actions to Take
The classroom teaches this better than the boardroom often will, because the consequences of emotional disconnection are visible and immediate. You can't hide from a room full of twelve-year-olds when you've lost them. That feedback loop, as uncomfortable as it sometimes was, made me a better communicator in every professional context that followed.
Here is what to carry forward:
Know your Why. Not the job description version. The real answer to why you do what you do, why you're in this industry, why this work matters to you personally.
And the actions that follow from it:
- Create and write down your Why. (If you need a starting point, the Braintrust Academy offers free resources to help.)
- Communicate your Why to your coworkers.
- Ask them why they do what they do.
- The final step: listen to what they tell you.
If the ideas in this post resonate with how you're thinking about leadership communication and team trust, the team at Braintrust works with organizations every day to develop these skills at scale. Worth a conversation.
