Everything is energy. Energy is powerful enough to create your success or promote your demise. Everything you involve yourself in is a result of the energy you contribute. How you contribute to your professional environment is as important as what you contribute. You may have the experience, knowledge, skill, and a long history of success; however, if you approach a new project, a meeting, a new job, an employee, your boss, or a customer with infected/negative energy, you should also be prepared to take responsibility for the consequences.
Developing and maintaining positive energy
involves more than merely thinking happy thoughts. It is the anticipation of
good (i.e. happiness, health and success) and it is the belief that all things
— situations, obstacles and difficulties — will work out favorably in the end.
As a leader, your energy can determine the
success of a meeting, a workday or even your overall company. If you have
an employee or co-worker who is struggling, have you considered how much
responsibility you have in their performance?
If you have chosen the privilege and
responsibility to supervise others, how are you dealing with your negative
employees? Negativity is contagious. It may seem as if dealing with
negative people is easier to simply ignore them. However, it’s important
to remember that many people are not aware of how negative energy is affecting
them. Therefore, your negative employees may be consciously or
sub-consciously expanding their negativity and influencing the behaviour of
others.
Wake up Leaders! Look in the mirror.
What are you contributing to your personal and professional life? How do
you protect those you are responsible for, as well as your overall company, to
ensure they have the positive, working environment they deserve?
There are very common questions to help evaluate
the energy you may be contributing. Are you generally a positive or negative
person? Do you have a high or low energy level? How do others respond to you;
relaxed or tense? Do you find yourself being judgmental of others or open and
accepting of diversity and new ideas? Do you harbor anger rather than letting
these feeling go? Do you feel mostly happy or sad and frustrated? Are you a
nice person?
Awareness is a great advocate for improvement. As
leader, you should care about creating a positive environment. As an employee
concerned with your current work environment, consider you are as responsible
for creating a positive environment as your boss and your co-workers.
Therefore, by simply taking time over the next week to observe others, you may
create a new awareness of the type of energy that is most common in your
department or company.
How a leader deals with energy can directly
determine how well an employee performs. The majority of employees spend most
of their waking day at work. Most employees want to feel good about their
workplace. Identifying a negative person does not have to result in turnover.
The reality is if you begin with yourself, many others will naturally follow
your lead and contribute toward a positive environment. However, if you
identify a negative employee who is not supporting the environment you are
expecting to create, it is critical to deal with this behaviour. If after
giving the employee an opportunity to improve, they do not respond favourably,
as a leader you cannot ignore this behaviour. Allowing this employee to
continue contributing negative energy will quickly infect the energy of other
employees and yourself.
Evaluate your management style and look for ways
to create a positive, supportive, and rewarding process. Reward the positive
improvements and mentor the employees who are not exceeding expectations.
Positive reinforcement can quickly shift energy and build momentum toward your
desired results.
A typical workday can drain the energy out of
your employees. Look for ways to create energy boosts throughout the day, in
meetings, and throughout projects. This can be as simple as frequent short
breaks, laughter, creating a very open environment where fresh ideas and creativity
is rewarded.
The relationships you align in life reflect who
you are. You are defined by your relationships in your personal life and
most certainly within your professional career. If you find the majority
of your employees are tired or your team is having difficulty with exceeding
expectations and creating momentum, seriously consider evaluating the energy
flowing within your company. Do not wait for others to create the
positive, rewarding, motivating environment that you have had the power to
create all along.
By Rose Obah
With Contribution from Shari Bench.
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