As purpose-led leaders and coaches, we are constantly interacting with the energy of those around us. In some moments, meeting and expanding on the collective energy that is ever present can feel effortless and restorative.
However, leadership can also feel draining, even exhausting. Energy, as scientists remind us, cannot be created or destroyed. The law of conservation of energy states that energy merely changes form, echoing the loops of polarity.
This sense of energy depletion is something I see in myself, my teams, my colleagues, and the leaders I coach. Lately it feels as if all the energy has been sucked out, leaving empty vessels.
Why does it feel like there\’s been a severe lack of energy lately, and what can we as leaders do to restore it?
When I first noticed it, I could still access what had felt like my usual endless energy, but compensating for others\’ lack began to drain me. Fear crept in – if I became unable to supply the energy, would others have the capacity to share theirs?
As leaders, we are responsible for the energy we bring and our capacity to access it, but I felt depleted.
As I questioned the alignment in the systems to which I belonged, my body began sending signals and my emotions overwhelmed me. Where was the sense of purpose – the soul in our work?
I hadn’t been responsible with my energy. I’d spent years drawing on what I thought was a never-ending resource, only to find the well was empty. My colleagues and the leaders who came to me for coaching shared similar experiences: physical health issues, emotional exhaustion, and a flagging belief in their work.
Everywhere I turned, I encountered a lack of energy. The call was to re-energize and re-source myself.
I still believe that our source of energy remains limitless, but see it less as residing within us and more as coming through us. It becomes our responsibility to remove blocks from the through flow of energy. To continue the crucial work we do as leaders, we must be able to recognize when we are disconnected from source, and know how to open back up to it.
It means placing a priority on doing our own work — shedding the past, working with our shadows, and reconnecting to our soul purpose.
Kerry Woodcock PhD, PCC, ORSCC, ACTC, EIA-SP, ITCA, ESIA, develops core, collective and change leadership capacity in leaders, teams and organizations, coaching pioneers and influencers to amplify the power of relationship and lead over the edge of change.Â
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