EDG Blog

Showing compassion and care for those you lead and influence is an investment that will yield long-term dividends.

Energy is contagious - when it becomes negative or is drained, we have to expend more energy to contain its spread and attempt to replenish it. And, it’s no secret - most leaders spend an unfortunate amount of time and energy navigating people who drain these resources.

Imagine if your calendar could become more than just a gumbo of annoying meetings, untenable deadlines, and Zoom calls. What if your calendar could become a great productivity tool and a visual representation of our energy and our values?

In fact, most rules are written to guard against the possibility of risk and harm committed by a very small number of people in an organization. And yet, those people and teams that meet and exceed expectations are saddled and burdened with the same rules that weren’t actually created for them.

Giving yourself permission likely feels like a privilege you can’t quite afford right now. That’s a fair assessment, given the global state of things in this moment. Yet, as leaders, we are called to vision-cast, to stay vigilant, and to focus on the possible future.

The sentiment here is simple: if we give ourselves the initial 10 - 15 minutes to level-set, adjust, and find our rhythm, we will mentally set ourselves up for productivity, engagement, and positive outcomes.

Then, there are those moments when we are triggered (consciously or unconsciously) by occurrences that threaten our needs. These triggers are often difficult for others to detect, which means we have to be accountable and aware on our own.

It can be tough to look in the mirror and face the reality that we may be the cause of our own stress, ineffectiveness, and burnout. Author Amy Jen Su suggests there are four pitfalls we default to that are at the root of our issues.

Leaders - the pandemic has provided all of us an opportunity to pause and reflect on our practices, relationships, and perspectives about our work and those of our teams. Have you noticed a loss of passion at work from your teams? Have you noticed your passion waning?

One of the tension points with meetings is that they often meander and lose their way. Meetings can often feel like items that could have been conveyed via email read aloud, resulting in lost productivity time.

We often make listening more difficult than it needs to be, usually caused by our ego’s desire to perform, prove, and win - especially when neither of those three desires are necessary or germaine to the conversation.

Rather than viewing work as simply a place of contract-and-compensation, consider work as a place of learning, connecting, experimenting, risk-taking, and discovery.