The Positive Energy Workplace

There has been a lot in the media lately about "the Great Resignation" and people leaving the workforce to start their own companies or move to others.

Burnout, stress, overwhelm, feeling unseen, unappreciated, and not on purpose being some of the key reasons cited. This checks. In the conversations I'm having right now with clients and colleagues this topic is coming up again and again. In the work I'm doing with leaders and their teams right now, versions of this topic come up in our one-on-ones. Lots of people are looking to leave. Lots.

I've got to say, this last month -- not to mention this whole year -- has been a... "doozy." Pandemics, politics, wildfires, hurricanes, more violence, unrest, and racial injustices, people and businesses I love changing forever, people hustling and finding new meaning in ways unknown before, distance learning, sending my son back to school and the multiple levels of tenderness that go with that, not to mention the death of someone near and dear taken far too soon and attending a funeral during a pandemic -- outdoors, amongst the smoke, with loved ones in tear-stained masks, six feet apart... It feels like every week brings a new level of intensity, darkness, and grief, but also lightness, grit, and grace... 

As we become more and more virtually-based (V), leading team meetings, having 1:1's, teaching, speaking, dating, relating, and all things human connection over pixels, our Intentional Energetic Presence® (IEP) + (V) is more important than ever. After all, we now have to create safety and connection ON a screen in little boxes, hundreds and thousands of miles away from each other, and sometimes just next door. This is no small feat. However, it can be done beautifully. 

We had the final Contagious Culture Book Club meeting today. I love these sessions as the people who show up -- show up, the questions they ask make me think in new ways, the situations shared are real, and the dialogue is rich. Of course, as with so many of my client calls, a GOLD nugget question or "aha" gets brought up RIGHT at the END of the session. Today was one of those days. 

We are in a new era of leadership. Many of us thought we were in a new era in the last few years (I guess we were), and oh... wow... little did we know. What is required NOW as we navigate the present moment and lead into the future, is similar in some ways (after all, we're talking about human beings, human dynamics, connection, and leadership), and also will require more -- and in new ways.