Your Energy Is Your Currency

How Energized Is Your Team?

It’s simple: Just as money flows and fuels economies, your energy flows and fuels your team. Think about it—leadership energy is a powerful currency that determines how your team collaborates.

Positive, intentional energy uplifts, energizes, and inspires, while negative, raw energy can leave your team feeling drained and disheartened.

There’s an energy current in every workspace, and as a leader, you are its primary conductor. So, let’s dive into what it means to manage your energy as a leader and how you can leverage it to help empower your team.

Leadership as an Energy Current

Imagine this: You’re a conductor, not of a train, but of an energy current. Your job is to ensure the energy flows smoothly and powerfully, guiding your team to success.

Positive leaders are like skilled electricians—they understand the importance of controlling their energy, ensuring it’s positively charged, and channeling it effectively. These leaders create an atmosphere where everyone feels included, valued, and motivated.

Negative leaders, on the other hand, are like faulty wiring. They bring inconsistent energy, sometimes sparking intensity that can shock and confuse their team or leave people burned. This type of leadership energy can unintentionally zap people, creating a work environment that’s disempowered and disjointed. Especially if the leader is unaware, or worse, unconcerned.

Setting the Tone with Intentional Energy

Think of your energy as the heartbeat of your team. Hearts, after all, run an electric current in our bodies. When your heartbeat is steady and positive, your team thrives. As a leader, your presence and influence are crucial. Be intentional about the energy you bring into work each day. Empowerment, encouragement, and a clear vision are your tools. Use them to build a team that’s cohesive, confident, and ready to take on any challenge.

Remember, your energy is contagious. If you walk into the office with enthusiasm and positivity, it will ripple through your team, creating a vibrant and productive environment.

Understanding the Science of Leadership Energy

Research has shown that the energy a leader brings to the workplace significantly impacts team performance. A study by the American Association for Physician Leadership found that leaders who display positive energy are more likely to have teams with higher engagement and productivity levels.

The study highlighted that positive energy is characterized by enthusiasm, optimism, and a genuine interest in the well-being of others.

Another article from McKinsey & Company emphasized that leaders who practice energy management are not only more effective but also more resilient in the face of challenges. They’re like the captain of their ship, maintaining a steady course even when faced with adversity, providing a stable and motivating presence for their teams amongst the waves of challenge and uncertainty.

I’ve always appreciated the quote: smooth seas never made a skillful sailor. But I’d add to it: It’s the captain who stays positive in rough waters who leads the ship to safe harbor.

This positivity-fueled, resilient energy is crucial for sustaining long-term performance and keeping teams engaged.

The Metaphor of Currency and Current

To deepen our understanding, let’s break down the metaphor of energy as both currency and current.

Currency: Just as money is used to trade goods and services, your energy as a leader is a currency that can be exchanged for productivity, engagement, and loyalty. When you invest positive energy into your team, you receive a return in the form of increased morale, better collaboration, and enhanced performance. Conversely, negative energy depletes your team’s trust over time, zapping engagement and increasing the risk of burnout.

Current: Energy as a current implies movement and direction. As a leader, you direct the flow of energy within your team. Positive energy currents propel your team forward, creating momentum and driving progress and optimism. Work is good, the team is good, life is good.

Negative energetic flow, on the other hand, can create resistance, slowing down processes and hindering progress. Or there can be dangerous sparks in the form of heated conflict, gossip behind people’s backs, or contagious disengagement.

Your role as leader and conductor is to ensure that the energy current is strong, hopeful, and positively directed towards achieving your team’s goals.

Okay, Let’s Play!

Alright, here’s where the fun begins. Let’s approach controlling your leadership energy through this simple mindset game. We’ll use this 3-step framework to help you decide your own pathway, write your own story, and a map out your own priorities…

You’ve got three choices ahead of you – think, decide, or do. Pick one that resonates with you or try all three if you’re up for the challenge. Ready? Set? Let’s Go!

Ready: Think about your energy in the workplace

• Be real, does your energy lift others up lately?

Set: Define the impact your energy has on your team

• If you’re a force for good, how are you making it happen? If you’re not, why not?

Go: Bring positive energy to your work

• Put two minutes on the clock and use that time to write an affirmative statement about what makes you a positive leader.
• Just write what’s real right now (hold on what you need to work on- we’re all a work in progress).
• Look at your note each day before work this week, and make sure you’re living it.
• A simple way to know you’re winning is if the people around you seem more inclined to smile.

Your Call To Action: Lead With Relentlessly Positive Energy

You know, your team can sense your energy before you even speak, and it makes such a huge impact. By consistently showing positive energy, you’re investing in your team’s energy, driving higher levels of engagement and loyalty. Your own positive energy is a powerful catalyst for creating a motivated, committed, and high-performing team.

Just like money flowing is crucial for the bottom line, your energy keeps the momentum and morale of your team high. It’s like an electrical current that powers your organization, charging every interaction, meeting, and project with enthusiasm and purpose. This energetic flow keeps your team dynamic, resilient, and ready to tackle challenges. And it starts with you.

So conductor, please flip the switch.

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Hey there! I’m Blair Bloomston, the creative mind behind the Play Uplifted blog, fueled by my 20+ years of experience as a game-based learning designer. The ideas and content? All mine. But I have to give a shoutout to my amazing assistant, ChatGPT, who swoops in to fix my typos and smooth out the grammar. Together, we’re here to elevate your leadership game. Cheers for collaborAItion at work!