Make it your mission to fuel and refuel energy.
Positive energy fuels achievement.
4 principles of energy:
#1. People have energy. Lousy organizations drain it.
#2. Energy flows toward meaningful action. When people lose energy, they’re doing things that aren’t fulfilling.
#3. Energy increases with clarity and forward movement. Sustained confusion drains.
#4. Leaders impact energy. Successful leaders protect, nurture, and ignite energy inside others. Foolish leaders suck the life out of people.
How to generate positive energy in others:
Energy decreases unless someone fuels it.
First, commit yourself to generating positive energy in your team members.
Second, adopt a system for generating positive energy in others.
System one: Listen – Care – Challenge
#1. Listen to people’s concerns, suggestions, and aspirations.
- Ask questions.
- Take the perspective of others.
- Understand aspirations. Can you list the aspirations of your team members?
- Look for aspiration behind frustration. What do they want?
#2. Care
Respect the challenges and aspirations of others. What’s easy for you is difficult for others.
- I see what you’re saying.
- I hear you.
- This seems to trouble you.
- You seem excited about this.
#3. Challenge
- What would you like to do about that?
- How can I help?
- What’s the next step?
- You have more in you.
System two: Admire strengths – Appreciate progress – Apply strengths
#1. Admire strengths
- You’re great at ….
- You’re at your best when ….
- How did you get good at …?
#2. Appreciate progress
- Yes, you have further to go, but you’ve made some progress.
- You’re better at …. (Insert leading meetings or dealing with tough issues, for example.)
#3. Apply strengths
- How might you apply what you’re great at to this situation?
- How will your strengths serve you well with this in mind?
- What does past success suggest you should do this time?
How might leaders generate positive energy in team members?
What do leaders do that drains energy from team members?
