Stifling or thriving?

Does your environment set you up for success?

On a call with a client last week we worked to "unpack" some issues that were "stalling" her energy, impacting her influence with her team, and hindering their results. This "problem" honoring the rule of "ripple effects of a CEO's energy", was in fact creating ripple effects beyond her immediate team. Shift was in order, for sure. But...what shift?

At first glance, we figured it'd be a big complex problem that would need all sorts of strategy, wisdom, and tricks to fix. I put on my best thinking cap to address leadership and team dynamics. It wasn't necessary. The problem, as it so often is for so many of us, was actually...her. Hallelujah! (After all, much easier to "shift" outcomes when we "shift" ourselves first.) What a relief!

After going through several issues we found that she had 3 immediately leverage-able actions - all starting with her:

1. Clean out her closet & pantry. (Yes, her home closet and home pantry.)
2. Organize and re-boundary her calendar - creating a new system to help her "get in front of" the priorities of the week and the team.
3. Prioritize priorities using the "4D's" for every thing on her "to do" list. (Decide. Ditch. Do. Delegate.)

Doing these three things would actually give her back her "grounding", her energetic presence and awareness, a solid place to stand from to create clearer decisions, and a more powerful and authentic voice to craft clearer and more impactful communication. No need for a big overhaul. Just a "reboot". Her energy was kiddywampus, she was not "in front of things", she was constantly running to "catch up". No matter how GOOD she was at everything she did, if the energy underneath the action was not right, if she was not aligned, and if she didn't feel good, impact would be "off".

From the energy of "kiddy-wampus"; clarity, presence, and power...suffer. Her team, and their results were reflecting this back to her.

Numbers 2 and 3 maybe fairly self-explanatory...but number 1, which was actually her NEXT step, is the one I thought I'd put in your bonnet.

Why would a CEO of an organization need to spend time on her closet and her pantry? Two words: Energy = Impact.

Our environment has a tremendous impact on our internal energy and therefore our external presence. This impacts our ability to lead. For example:

A scrappy closet means a rough start to a day which can have lasting effects.

Cue scene...It's early a.m., you walk into your disorganized closet, socks falling out of drawers, belts and scarves mis-"filed", a pile of "no, not that's" from last week on the floor..."Hmmm...what will I wear?" "Oh, those pants don't fit anymore - gosh, why do I still have those size 2's from high school, or, oh...those size 4's, or 8's, or 10's?" (Get ready for funk town), "Oh, why oh why can't I get back into a size 2?" (Internal self-beating continues.) "Gosh I don't really feel great in my body right now, I'm tired, I think I'll go back to bed..." "Oh! This doesn't look good together either", "Oh, crap, this should have gone to the cleaner" . Do you feel me? And now, aside from the emotional energy you've just spent, you're late. So you grab a granola bar or worse (which won't help that size 2, 4,6, 8 OR more importantly, how you feel energetically throughout the day), jump in the car, get caught in traffic, curse the traffic Gods, arrive late, and your energy is, yes...rattled - at best. Guess who notices and is influenced by you? Guess who's the only person to change this dynamic? (Did you guess? Ya, I love this game!)

How about your pantry? You say you're really committed to your physical health and energy. Cue scene: I come over to your house tonight and you have nothing but ho-ho's and donuts and chips, and all sort of junk on your shelves. The good stuff you bought? I can't find it because your pantry is so disorganized, you're too busy to get it humming (I get it). Best intentions, and...your pantry is NOT supporting your energy or your intended outcomes. Guess who can change this (even if you hire/enlist someone to help you)? Yep!

Now cue your own scene...What do you see? How is your environment either setting you up for success and supporting you? Or getting in your way, draining your energy, and creating negative ripple effects? I promise you - promise you - promise you - your environment is having an impact.

Our internal energy and presence are reflected and projected on the world around us, in our relationships, in our businesses, in our impact. The oh-so-brilliant gift of this is that you having your intended impact, or that better relationship, or that happier day, may just be a closet cleaning away.