Leadership Horizons

Energy Management: The Hidden Pillar of Effective Leadership

• Lois Burton • Episode 23

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Ever feel like you're running on empty while everyone expects you to be the energizer? You're not alone. After 24 years and 30,000+ hours coaching senior executives, I've discovered that even the most brilliant strategists and natural inspirers burn out because they've never learned to manage their most precious resource: energy.

Energy management forms the foundation of resilient leadership – it's not just about personal well-being, but about effectiveness. When you walk into a room, your energy literally becomes your team's energy within minutes. The exhausted leader brings anxiety; the centered leader brings clarity. 

Your team is constantly reading your energy state, taking cues about how they should feel about situations. This energy encompasses three critical dimensions.:

Physical energy involves understanding your body's rhythms and knowing when you're at peak performance for different types of work. 

Mental energy focuses on protecting your finite cognitive capacity from depletion through constant decisions and interruptions. 

Emotional energy requires awareness and regulation of emotional states that get depleted by conflict but renewed through meaningful connections. 

The transformation potential is remarkable. One financial services executive discovered she scheduled her most important meetings during her natural energy dip at 3 PM. Simply shifting these to mornings created massive impact. Another leader realized she was spending 60% of her time on activities that drained her – no wonder she was struggling!

Try these proven strategies: design your ideal energy day by protecting peak times for important work; create energy rituals like brief meditation or walking between meetings; delegate energy-draining tasks; set boundaries (remember, every yes to something unimportant is a no to something important); and schedule recovery time like you schedule meetings.

Ready to transform your leadership effectiveness? Start with a simple energy audit this week. Notice when you feel most energized, what activities give or drain your energy, and which people energize or deplete you. Then implement just one small energy management strategy. Small changes compound into transformation.

Your team is counting on your energy. Make it count.

Leadership Horizons - Helping You Lead Beyond Boundaries

Speaker 1:

Leadership, it isn't just about where you are. It's about where you're going and how far you can see. Welcome to Leadership Horizons, where we explore leadership at its most transformative. I'm Lois Burton, an Executive Coaching Leadership Development Specialist with more than 30,000 hours of individual coaching and over 5,500 hours of team coaching with senior leaders and executives across multiple sectors. I started this podcast because, in our rapidly changing world, leaders really matter, as it's only with great transformative leadership that we can navigate both the challenges and the immense opportunities we have right now. And, perhaps more importantly, the way we led yesterday isn't going to lead us into tomorrow. So today I want to talk about something that came up in three different coaching sessions just this week alone, and it's something I've been passionate about throughout my career. We're exploring the critical importance of leaders managing their energy. Let me start with a story. Last month, I was working with a CEO who told me Lois, I feel like I'm running on empty, but everyone expects me to be the energizer and motivator. Does it sound familiar? In my 24 years of coaching, I've seen this pattern repeated countless times Leaders who are brilliant strategists, exceptional communicators and natural inspirers, but who are burning out because they've never learned to manage their most precious resource their energy. Here's the thing energy management isn't just about personal well-being. It's about leadership effectiveness. When leaders manage their energy well, they make better decisions, inspire their teams more and create more sustainable organizational success.

Speaker 1:

In my work developing resilient leaders, I've discovered that resilience isn't built on wishful thinking or just toughing it out. It's built on what I call the pillars of resilience, and the first pillar perhaps the most fundamentally yet frequently overlooked is energy management. You see, resilient leaders understand that their physical and mental energy is their most precious resource. Without sufficient energy reserves, even the most skilled leader will struggle to maintain perspective and therefore struggle to make sound decisions or engage effectively with others. Energy management literally underpins all other aspects of resilience.

Speaker 1:

This pillar encompasses three critical dimensions. The first one is physical energy. This goes beyond just fitness, although proper sleep, nutrition and physical activity are fundamental, but it's more than that. It's about understanding your body's rhythms, knowing when you're at your peak for different types of work and honoring the need for recovery. I had one client, an MD in financial services, who discovered she was scheduling her most important meetings at 3 pm, right when her natural dip in energy occurred, and so she was struggling in those meetings. She changed this to having 80% of those important meetings in the morning. Simple change, massive impact.

Speaker 1:

Secondly, I want to talk about mental energy. This is about focus management and cognitive renewal. Your cognitive capacity your ability to focus, think creatively and make complex decisions is finite. Every decision depletes it slightly. Every interruption costs you. Smart leaders protect and intentionally direct their mental energy towards their highest value activities.

Speaker 1:

Thirdly, emotional energy. This involves awareness and regulation of our emotional state. Your emotional reserves, your capacity to stay positive, resilient and emotionally available to your team are depleted by conflict, difficult conversations and stress, but they're renewed by meaningful connections, celebration and purposeful work. What makes energy management so critical is that it underpins everything else. When your energy is well managed, you have the reserves to handle whatever comes your way with grace and effectiveness.

Speaker 1:

So here's something that I do with many of the executives. I coach an energy audit For one week. I ask them to track when do you feel most energized during the day? What activities or interactions give you energy? What drains your energy fastest? Which people in your life are energy givers versus energy takers? The insights are always revelatory. One client realized she was spending 60% of her time on activities that drained her and only 20% on activities that energized her. No wonder she was struggling. The goal isn't to eliminate all energy draining activities. That's impossible in leadership. The goal is to be intentional about the balance and to have strategies for renewal.

Speaker 1:

Here's something fascinating from my years of team coaching A leader's energy is contagious. When you walk in a room, your energy state becomes the team's energy state within minutes. I've seen this repeatedly the exhausted leader who brings anxiety and urgency to every meeting. The exhausted leader who brings anxiety and urgency to every meeting. The energized leader who brings calm, confidence and creative thinking. The scattered leader who brings chaos. The centered leader who brings clarity. Your team is always reading your energy, either consciously or subconsciously. They're asking how should I feel about this situation? And they're taking their cues from you. So what can you actually do about this in a practical way to ensure that you are managing your energy well?

Speaker 1:

Based on my work with many of my coaches, here are five proven strategies. Firstly, design your ideal energy day. Map out when you naturally have high energy and protect those times for your most important work. One CAI I work with does all her strategic thinking between 6 and 9am, when her mental energy is at its peak. It's also important to audit this, because the rhythms of the body and your biorhythms can shift over time. Some people you know are for most of their life a morning person, but then that energy shifts and they actually feel they need more time in the morning and they become more energized in the evening. So do this, but recognize it can shift and it might need review at some point. Secondly, create energy rituals Small, consistent practices that maintain or restore your energy.

Speaker 1:

I'm really keen on meditation. I know it doesn't work for everybody. Sometimes it might be just taking the time to do a two minute breathing exercise, but if you do think meditation is something worth trying, there are many, many apps out there that you can look at. It's quite personal, so you might need to do some research. Personally, I love the Happier app, but that might not suit everybody. There are lots, but that might not suit everybody. There are lots, but, as I say, bringing in small practices, rituals are really important. So whether it is two minute breathing exercise between meetings, a short meditation before you start your day, a walk at lunch or ending each day by writing down three wins, find some things that really work for you.

Speaker 1:

If possible, delegate energy draining tasks. Not everything that drains your energy should be eliminated. Sometimes it should be delegated what energizes you might drain someone else, and vice versa. Fourthly and this is really important set boundaries. Learn to say no to requests that don't align with your priorities. I've talked about this before, but it can't be said enough Every yes to something unimportant is a no to something that matters. Fifthly, schedule recovery time, like you schedule meetings. It's not selfish, it's strategic. You can't pour from an empty cup.

Speaker 1:

Let me tell you about transformation. Six months after implementing these strategies, the CIR I mentioned at the beginning told me Lois, I have more energy now than I've had in years, and my team has never been more engaged. That's the power of energy management. It's not just about surviving leadership. It's about thriving in it and enabling others to thrive too. So let's think about some next steps. Here's what I'd love you to do this week.

Speaker 1:

Days one to three conduct your own energy audit. Notice patterns. Days four to seven implement one small energy management strategy. Remember small changes compound into transformation. You don't need to overhaul your entire life. You need to start with one intentional choice. Energy management isn't a luxury for leaders. It's a necessity, because when you manage your energy well, you don't just become a better leader, you become a more sustainable one, and sustainability is what enables you to create lasting impact.

Speaker 1:

Just before we close, I want to let you know that on 27th of August, I will be welcoming a new guest executive, coach and international bestselling author of Leadership Unlocked, my good friend and colleague, lynn Scott, so mark your calendars. That will be a special session. Until then, please join me next week on Leadership Horizons as we explore the second pillar of resilience, future focus, and I'm going to be giving you a heads up about an event that's going to be starting in September and going into a full program in October, so keep your ears peeled for that. Until then, remember the future of leadership knows no bounds, but it requires energy to get there. I'm Lois Burton. This has been Leadership Horizons. Take care of your energy. Your team is counting on it. Thank you.