Leadership Isn't For Cowards: How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems

Chapter 30

How Are You Feeling?

Would you work in the space your people work in every day? Would you be able to achieve what you expect your people to accomplish, given their conditions and circumstances? Walk around your team’s work environment—the actual physical space. Go ahead. I will wait.

Welcome back! So what does the energy in the space say? Does it say “Woo-hoo!” or “Blah”? When you attend your next meeting, what does the energy in the room say? Does it say, “We are here to do important work and we are inspired to do it”? Or does it say, “Oh no, not another meeting”?

As the leader, you have the ability to kindle the kind of energy that your people need to succeed. This is done mostly through the energy you yourself exhibit. Managing your level of intensity and your energy is one of the most inspirational things you can do. You are the leader; your mood and your energy level affect everyone else. You know that your people are talking about you behind your back. You know that the reason the room gets quiet when you walk in is because they were telling a story about you. You understand that you are often the subject of dinner conversation. So let me give you a clue—do not underestimate the power of the energy you exude.

“Well, Mike, I am just not a very energetic person.” You don’t have to be energetic in the traditional sense. This is about the quality of your energy, not the quantity. You give off energy all day, every day. Your followers sense it and react to it. They ...