How to Influence Anyone, Anywhere, Every Time

CHAPTER 17ENERGY

As we explored earlier, we make a rapid judgement call when we meet people for the first time. This first impression assessment includes a bunch of things, including this rather intangible quality we call energy (see figure 17.1).

Figure 17.1 The energy framework

We convey energy all the time. In workplaces, this is often described as attitude. ‘He has attitude, that one’, someone might say of a colleague. In this case, it describes surliness, arrogance or conceit.

‘She lights up a room when she walks into a meeting’ is something you have heard. What do they mean by ‘lights up’?

We have an array of descriptions for energy:

• upbeat
• docile
• sheepish
• alpha
• defensive
• moody
• petulant
• confident
• arrogant
• rock solid.

The list continues.

We continuously monitor energy to assess trustworthiness, integrity, intention, authenticity and motivation in every communication situation.

Some years ago, working with an extended leadership team, my role was to deliver a keynote presentation in the afternoon. I sat through the morning session, and the room felt toxic. Shifting eyes, masked expressions and wary postures were the order of the day. I knew why. People had lost confidence in the CEO. The energy in the room was a mix of mistrust and anger. The CEO said all the right words. People did the usual updates and the like, but the energy was off.

This intangible thing, energy, ...