During lock-down I realised that I was not only an energiser as I worked hard to keep my team informed, motivated, and engaged, but I also drew energy from leading people. This made me think about how people give and get energy.
I believe that Positive Relational Energy is key to leading a successful business.
Emma Seppala and Kim Cameron spent many years researching the power of positive energy within relationships and came up with the term Positive Energisers. These are the leaders who are at the centre of networks of relationships and are the ones who drive the network forward.
To my point about the lock-down, by uplifting others through authentic, value based leadership, Energisers up lift themselves and their businesses. The values that Energisers demonstrate include forgiveness, compassion, humility, kindness, trust, integrity, generosity, gratitude and recognition.
We should be aware that every Ying has a Yang. Within networks there are also people who demoralise diminish, uninspire, demotivate and generally put others down. These are sappers, people who sap energy and enthusiasm from the group.
Positive energisers and sapper or de-energisers will exist in all walks of life. In a sports teams, a class room, a family and a place of work. Focusing on the workplace, it is the leader who sets the values and culture within the business so their energy levels are critical to the success of the business.
A leader who is a Positive Energiser will produce higher engagement, lower staff turnover, and enhanced feelings of well being. This has been scientifically proven by monitoring bran activity, measuring enhanced levels of hormones such as Oxycontin and Dopamine.
One big advantage of relationship energy is that is does not run out the way that other types of energy do. Physical energy in people burns out, think how you feel after a long run or heavy gym session! The same is true for mental and emotional energy. Events that are mentally challenging or emotionally draining, do just that, they drain our energy, But relationship energy does not drain away.
Now, think about spending time with ones we love, trust and enjoy being with. These experiences energise us. Positive Relational Energy grows when we are in positive relationships, or with positive people.
So leaders with Positive Relational Energy can give a business a massive advantage, they can energise a business. Imagine the impact they would have on a business that has dis-engaged, demotivated and burnt out employees.
They would be the catalyst to success.
Research has shown that where an organisation has a leader who is a Positive Energiser that business has greater;
Innovation
Team work
Productivity
Quality
Financial performance
Workplace cohesion
In-fact when an organisation has a leader who is a Positive Energiser the employees have greater;
Job satisfaction
Well-being
Engagement
Performance
Family relationships
Humans are not the only ones who are attracted to positive energy. In nature some plants grow towards the light. This is called Heliotrope. The light is their energy source, just as Relational Energy is an energy source for people.We are inherently attracted towards life giving and life supporting energy - the energy we give and receive in relationships with others.
Positive Relational Energy has been shown to have direct health benefits. A lack of positive social connections can be worse for a person's health than smoking, high blood pressure or obesity! Conversely, positive social connections can increase life expectancy, strengthen the immune system and lower rates of anxiety and depression.
Positive Relational Energy can be contagious. Energisers reproduce themselves, building networks of Positive Energisers around them, and the Heliotropic effect expands to attract still more. They energise each other in a continual energy boosting mechanism.
Polly Parton summarised it perfectly when she said
Can a business grow with a sapper as a leader? Sure. But in time of the Great Resignation, can a business take the risk?
Comments