Maya Angelou

 

“I learned that people forget what you said, people forget what you did, but people will never forget how they felt with you. »

Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Ann Johnson in Saint Louis; is an author, poet and civil rights activist. Throughout her life she was very interested in leadership and the creative process. She had understood what it took to have the courage to lead and had good relationships with world leaders. With her qualities as a poet, she was able to perfectly express the qualities of courage, firmness and truth that leaders possess.

At 3R Consultants, we wanted to present this historical figure to you because of her extraordinary career, her relationships, her impact in American history but also for her great knowledge of leadership. Without occupying a position of mediatised leader, Maya has been a change agent in her country and has been able to fight for her convictions throughout her life.

Maya Angelou had several lives before becoming the best-selling author she was. Following a somewhat chaotic childhood, where she lived far from her parents at her grandmother’s house and experienced racism on a daily basis, she was a singer, star dancer and mother at the age of 17.

Among the great men she has worked with are two world-famous personalities: Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Maya Angelou was a friend and colleague of these two historical figures. Following their deaths, her life had “capsised”. It was James Baldwin who allowed her to get back on track; pushing her to write and introducing her to Random House publisher Bob Loomis.

Maya Angelou has gradually become a national institution. Her books are on the school curriculum. She also rubbed shoulders with great American political figures such as Bill Clinton.

Here is one of her most famous quotes that perfectly reflects her life journey:

“You can’t control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced to them. Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. Don’t complain. Do everything you can to change the things you don’t like and if you can’t make any changes, change the way you approach them. »