The Positive Energy Workplace

I had someone call me last week looking for the gold "nugget" of advice that would help them accelerate their leadership impact and influence in the quickest way possible. They have their MBA, they're super smart, they're in a highly visible position, and they care very much about what they're up to. And of course, like any high achiever who wants to have more impact, they're looking to optimize.

I had a meeting with my team last week. All of us were prepared, we had some good stuff to dig into. Everyone showed up on time, checked in, confirmed our agenda, and then…

I blew it.

Yep, me, as the team leader… blew it.

How? My presence. Despite being prepared, having all the “stuff” I needed to have to have a great meeting, and all the right “actions” – my presence was off.

Our normally high vibration, present, positive energy meetings, turned into dysfunctional sludge; the sludge had nothing to do with what I said or did – it was my energy and what I brought into that Google Hangout.

Fortunately, I quickly realized I was sinking the “room”, was able to name it, reboot, and get us back on track. (Ironic. Here we are, a company helping people up-level presence in order to be more effective in their leadership and impact, and I had just sucked the energy out of the room. With my beautiful team. Wow.)

How awesome.

So what happened?

It was 11:00 a.m., on a Tuesday. I jumped on a video call with a client to work on his strategy for taking his career to the next level. He was well qualified for a promotion and very hungry to make it happen.

I was ready to roll. He was... exhausted.

At 11:00. On a Tuesday morning.

As we faced each other on pixels I noticed his energy was low, his face "muted", his voice quieter than usual. His presence communicated drudgery and fatigue. Not only could I see it, I could feel it.

I asked how he was doing...

"Exhausted. I don't know how I'm going to make it through today -- I'm back-to-back in meetings, and all of them are important."

"Hmmm... It's only Tuesday, at 11:00 a.m. What's up?" I asked.

"I had a big weekend; we BBQ'd, lots of hot dogs, chips, and beers... I guess I'm still recovering."

"Was it worth it?"

"Ya, it was great. I'll recover. What are we working on? Sorry, I didn't have time to prepare."

Hmmm...

If you have it, you rarely think about it. If you don't have it, you likely grapple with it--even if you don't realize it. It mends wounds, inspires creativity, creates true engagement, allows for real relating, results in better and bigger ideas, provides a safety net for taking risks, creates safety and intimacy, and simply feels good. It's essential to "right relationship" and it's one of your strongest units of leadership and human currency. What is it?

If you have it, you rarely think about it. If you don't have it, you likely grapple with it--even if you don't realize it. It mends wounds, inspires creativity, creates true engagement, allows for real relating, results in better and bigger ideas, provides a safety net for taking risks, creates safety and intimacy, and simply feels good. It's essential to "right relationship" and it's one of your strongest units of leadership and human currency. What is it?

Trust.

This word is thrown around almost as much as the word "busy".

I refer a lot of people to a lot of different companies and vendors. Coaches, trainers, therapists, services, products, you name it — if it’s something I think will serve someone I’m working with, or one of our students, they get an introduction.

Recently I had a client who I thought could benefit from one of my contacts’ wares… I told him I’d make an introduction… and then I didn’t. I waited. And waited some more. Truth was. I didn't want to make the introduction. I wanted the client to have the product, but for some reason, I didn’t want to engage with the vendor. Yikes. Why?

In a word… Intuition and energy.

The vendor’s main contact, who’d ultimately be the main point of contact for my client, had some pretty low vibe energy. My intuition told me it wasn’t a good match. Wanting to check myself, I checked in with another client I’d referred in the past. How was it going? What was their experience like? Happy?