BCG: Good Vibrations: The CEO’s Practical Guide to Create and Amplify Energy
In a recent discussion on organizational dynamics, BCG experts emphasize that positive energy isn’t merely a compliment; it’s a vital force that engages employees, aligns goals, and strengthens conviction within a company.
This transformative energy, starting from the CEO, functions as a two-way current, permeating every level of the organization. Leaders who adeptly channel this energy can accelerate value creation and cultivate a powerful sense of purpose and self-confidence among their teams.
While the importance of generating positive energy is widely acknowledged among leaders, its strategic application often remains overlooked. To address this gap, a new practical guide for CEOs has been introduced, detailing effective methods for creating and amplifying energy within their organizations.
This guide promises to be an essential resource for leaders aiming to harness the full potential of positive energy to drive organizational success.
How to Create Energy
Positive energy does not just happen. It is deliberately designed and generated. Many of the CEOs we interviewed talked about the preparation and thought that goes into critical meetings, conversations, body language, settings, and messages that can amplify across the organization.
And energy isn’t only an inherent trait. Like other CEO skills, energy management can be practiced and perfected.
CEOs should also be true to who they are. As one top leader told us, “You are always better when you are playing true to the integrity of who you are.” Charisma is nice but not necessary. Transparency, intention, optimism, and deep giving and care, even unassumingly delivered, can all transmit energy.
Here are some practical suggestions that CEOs use to manage their personal as well as their organization’s energy:
- Review your calendar with your staff to identify energy-draining and energy-renewing activities and audiences. One former CEO conducted regular “energy audits” of his calendar to assess “give energy” and “take energy” meetings. Consider offloading meetings with draining executives or adjusting their frequency so that you preserve your personal energy. One CEO, who had to manage an energy-draining executive family member of a family-managed enterprise, balanced that activity by spending time with the frontline, an energizing task for him.
- Establish limits, especially when traveling. Several CEOs talked about the drain of back-to-back meetings. “You don’t want to line up four or five stressful events in a row, if you can avoid it,” a former CEO said. A number of CEOs who told us that they were natural introverts said that they consciously manage their calendars so they do not need to be “on” for long stretches of time. “I have rules. No breakfasts before 8:00 am,” a CEO said. “No late nights, no late parties. I must be back before 9:30 pm. If I am traveling for a week, I want one night to myself.”
- Plan meetings to maximize energy output. CEOs have their own preferences about how and when they like to interact. One-on-one meetings—or conversely, large town halls—are draining for some CEOs but energizing for others. The same holds true for when (morning or afternoon) meetings are held or final decisions are made. One CEO described handling the most complex and tricky interactions in the morning, even if that meant accomplishing fewer things that day. Another CEO would revisit personnel decisions made late in the day the next morning when attention, energy, and optimism tend to be highest.One company has tried to schedule most meetings for Mondays so that employees can focus on their work during the rest of the week. “It created positive energy. People felt that their time was not being consumed by meetings,” the CEO said. “Collapsing meetings into one day is energy efficient.”
- Protect reflection and stay curious. As one top executive, who sets aside time to explore new ideas, said, “Curiosity is a verb. Our business requires stimulation and newness.”
In addition to these practical suggestions, CEOs can focus on two activities.
Positive energy isn’t just a compliment; it’s a force that engages employees, aligns goals, and deepens conviction within an organization.
Starting from the CEO, this energy acts as a two-way current that reaches every corner of the organization. CEOs who effectively channel this energy accelerate value creation and instill a powerful sense of purpose and self-confidence among their teams.
While many leaders understand the importance of generating this energy, fewer focus on its strategic application.
Here’s the CEO’s practical guide to creating and amplifying energy. For full report click here.
Source – BCG
