The Positive Energy Workplace

A friend of mine, having just released an inspiring and best selling book, is getting all sorts of flack, for all sorts of reasons. Most of them dark, none of them exactly life affirming or making her want to put herself out there more. A client of mine, who's just launched a fantastic initiative, is learning that a whole new set of "people problems" come from being successful. This realization has him questioning how big of a game he really wants to play. One of my students, after receiving an award in her industry, is baffled by the "odd vibe" and reserved sense of celebration, bordering resentment, she is feeling from her family. A sister of mine (don't worry, I have many, her identity is safe here, and all my sisters do cool stuff so good luck trying to figure out which one), steps into something a-m-a-z-i-n-g (amazing!) only to find the oddest of critics and critiques in the most random of places.

If you're familiar at all with my work or my stance, you'll know that I'm a stand for leadership and that I get to work with super innovative companies and biz leaders to help them create more effective leadership and impact in the world.

I was working with a couple of clients this week helping them think through a big meeting next month for their team. The usual suspects showed up: What outcomes do we want? Why are we having it? Do we really need to have it? How can it be as meaningful as possible? How much time do we have? What might come up that we need to be prepared to work with? Who needs to be there? You know... that stuff.

Last August I decided to put myself through my program. A lot had evolved in the model over the last 18 months and I was feeling the urge for an intentional reboot. I called it my own personal "7 week leadership experiment". After all, if I fully engaged in my stuff, and walked my talk, what could I create? I knew 2013 would be a big year for this work given some of the things I'd put in motion, and I wanted to go in fully aware and congruent. My business, life, relationships, and health had nothing to lose.

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.