Are you energised?

I am a great believer in leadership energy.  

A key aspect of leadership is taking the group forwards - whether it be in business, in sports, in other walks of life; it is the leaders who have the vision as to what is needed next and create the energy and motivation to get it done.

I like to think of leadership as the "job description" you write for yourself, rather than one you are given.  I have also heard it called the "worry work" by clients.  I guess we know what that means - the issues and ideas that need attention that you worry over until they are done - whether it is 3 in the afternoon or 3 in the morning.

This brings me to the theme of this blog - energy.

Your energy as a leader is essential to your community.  Often energy is shared by a number of people, but if the leaders' energy is low it is likely to affect things more significantly.  This is because energy can be contagious and "energising" for those around you.  If you are in charge, you will give the lead and even your energy level is shared by your team.

So how do you ensure, if you are doing the "worry work" and waking up at 3am with it, that it is not your anxiety that becomes shared?  How do you keep your own head clear and your confidence high in face of all of the barriers and risks you might face?

Here are some tips to keep you energised for the upturn in 2011


Physical fitness can help reduce anxiety


Physical discipline
Make sure you look after your heart and circulation.  The key areas to focus on are regular exercise leading to deep breathing, and good eating routines.

Even a brisk 40 minute walk each day will improve your clarity of thinking and energy.  It does this by driving more oxygen into the system, and creating positive hormones; both are beneficial for energy.  Over the longer term, cells can adapt to higher levels of exercise and improve energy production generally.

Pay attention to your eating times.  You should be able to notice that your energy gains or wanes depending on how and what you eat and drink.  Paying a little more attention to this will help you work out how to manage a gain rather than exhaustion.

Choose food that maximises your energy!

My own energy cycles through the day.  After 45 minutes of intense work, a short break is a great idea and if I follow this I am much more productive.   If I work without stopping, over days and weeks, I get constitutionally tired.  Constant unrelieved stress like this can be very bad for long term health.    If I start the day with exercise of some sort I am much clearer and more decisive and feel more positive regardless of what is thrown my way.




Choose to play to your strengths
Discipline over what you do during the day will also have a major impact on energy and productivity.  You can probably identify pretty easily those tasks/activities where:

• Your energy increases
• You lose a sense of time
• You feel fully absorbed
• You are challenged to use your experience and skill but not so much that you feel out of your depth
• It feels more like the real you

Honesty here is the hardest thing, because, in business in particular, sometimes tasks or roles that do the opposite of the above bullets seem to command status, power and higher pay.  No doubt you can identify parts of your role that you hate but just cannot bring yourself to give up.

The reality is (and I am sure with a bit of thought you will recognise this), that your impact will be far far greater by focusing on those activities that are of most value to the firm and at the same time give you the bulleted list above.  With a bit of thought I am sure you could adjust your focus towards energising tasks and you will see the benefits provided the tasks that you let go of are capable of being taken up by a colleague (if indeed they are really needed).

For those chores that cannot be delegated or shared, adapting the way you approach them (e.g. what you think about while you do them, or what environment you create to do them in) will bring you back into a higher energy and more productive mode .  Even chores can be made more pleasurable with a bit of thought.

Find your top five strengths from the stengths survey on http://www.authentichappiness.com/ and then think about using them when you are engaged in your least favoured tasks.  You may well see improvements.

None of these suggestions will of themselves help you deal with the most significant challenges.  However, a better habit of energy, over time, can build your love of life and your energy reserve ready for the times of higher challenge.  Perhaps this will be just enough and certainly your colleagues and family will appreciate the reduced anxiety and increased chillout factor.

A final warning

Watch out for over-heating your team!

Too much energy can be overwhelming!  Sometimes those you meet who are on a constant high are actually rather tiring to be around.  That's certainly true of me at times - I can be pretty intense.  What I have found to be of use is to pay much closer attention to those I am with and manage my energy accordingly.  It may sound weird, but it is certainly possible first to match the energy of your group.  Do this well and you will synchronise with them.  Then when you raise your energy the group will often follow you up!  It takes a bit of practice, but it definitely works.

Keep energised and enjoy your R&R, and your whole team will reap the benefits.