The Positive Energy Workplace

I believe that people generally come from a place of positive intention. If there is a disconnect, it often happens in their impact and the stories that get made up about their intentions. The impact of this? Resistance, mistrust, broken relationships, unintended influence, and at a minimum, lost opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and doing their best work.

Assuming "bad" creates a negative and constrictive energy - no good. Assuming good creates expansive, safe and creative energy - very good. An easy and obvious choice, yet intention and choice are easier said than action and consistency. Why?

Three common reasons: 1) lack of awareness - they don't even realize they're doing it, 2) habit - defaults can be tricky to shake, 3) busy-ness - for whatever reason, it seems easier and quicker to go to the dark side. (This of course is a lie - assuming good takes a lot less energy and has greater returns.)

Of course if there was a #4 reason, it might be that there are some who get a lot of mileage out of assuming bad (yes, they do exist), but in my experience, that's not the majority. (And I'm assuming that the people reading this want to assume good and lead well.)

It's easy to default to "defense mode" and to assume "bad" or to just not be aware of intention at all. Assuming good, or even being aware of someone's true intention, takes awareness and curiosity to do this - and this is where we'll often fail to "get it right." When you move fast, when you have 4,368 things to do (by 6 tonight), and when you have so many competing priorities; awareness, curiosity, and "assuming good" are easily put on the back burner. The solution to this? Awareness, intention, commitment, and active engagement with assuming good: 70% of it is awareness, the other 30% is what you do with it.

So how do you do it?

Life is simple. Our brains and egos don't want us to think it is, but it actually is pretty simple. When you unpack all the stories about relationships, events, failures, wins, people, places, and things...and just get to the bottom of it, it's pretty simple.

Create the space...mark that calendar

10 days in, 9 classes in, and...uh...yep, only 4 runs in...and "behind" on blog posts. It's been a buzz! Remember I said I wasn't sure what this series would turn into? Well yeehaa! It's turning into something I didn't expect. A series I'll be posting on just once a week, cuz...let's face it...there's a lot to do besides posting here. (And truth be told, I'm super behind on other writing commitments that need my attention yesterday!) So while I thought I'd be here ever 2-3 days, you're just gonna have to trust me and make up the rest on what is going on in the lead/beek/run challenge. I'll be posting weekly on the lead/beek/run challenge. But stay tuned, cuz I have some additional energy/relationship/leadership blog posts a brewing...and they're feeling kind of juicy!

So what has the last week brought besides 6 classes and 2 runs? For one, I have a deeper level of appreciation for creating space (not only on the calendar, but in my head) for getting "in front of it" with training, nutrition, sleep, etc. I'm learning to schedule my training/nutrition like I schedule projects. It helps a ton. (Full disclosure, the picture above is me leading a business retreat for some clients, but it could be me marking my training calendar!) Secondly, remember how I was concerned about being an extremist and I'm either all in or all out and how would that impact my intentions? (I think that was in post 1 of the series.) Well, I'm over it! Yep! Totally evolved! (LOL.) This, I suppose, is the gift of being so physically present that I don't have time for the drama of extremism/all in/all out mentality. (Either that, or it's a simple survival/thrival tactic I've adopted - either way, it's feeling good.) I've decided that as long as I'm showing up 100% (and only I know), I'm cool. Just because I miss a class or a run or a post, does not mean all is lost. It just means climb back on. Pop quiz: Where does this "extremism" theory apply in your business and/or life? And where will the "climb back on" approach serve you? Go for it!

What else has this week brought? New awareness around "drama, decisions, and competition." Come on now...

I got my lead/beek/run "aha" this a.m. before I even stepped into the hot room. Driving in I noticed how neutral I was feeling. Neutral and present and calm. Open to whatever the morning brought; in everything from the morning class, to the morning client calls, to the morning run (yes, it's time to start amping up my running), and the morning projects (I am in the middle of a big project, which you will soon see the fruits of on this blog.)

Today has been a mix of emotions. Driving in for the early a.m. practice, I listened to some of the tributes of 9/11. Although that day is 10 years past, I can still remember the feeling, the horror, and complete sadness of it. One particular visceral image that will stay in my heart, I imagine forever, is the sight of my son, on his 1st birthday, "navigating" through all the balloons for his birthday party - getting tangled up in them, tripping and giggling with delight, and in the background, the TV broadcasting the burning towers while my mother and I watched the events unfold wondering where my husband was (he was boarding a plane at the time.)

A complete mix of emotions for me; pure joy and delight and gratitude on one hand, mixed with heartbreak, fear, and horror...and...confusion on the other. How was this happening even possible? I know this is nothing compared to what others went through on this day, nothing. But it is that mix of emotions I can tap into instantaneously that brings me back to the surreal-ness of 9/11. It is that mix of emotions that brings up tears of gratitude, sadness, and heartache all over again. It's also this mix of emotions which had me pretty raw for class today and gifted me 3 predominant awarenesses...