Energy Management

Often just being at work is. . .well, a lot of work.    Plus, as a leader you want to put your best foot forward for your team, you need to manage competing priorities and be a key contributor to the enterprise.  The net result is that you need an amount of energy approximately equal to what it takes to light up a small city.   It's important, then, to realize both the opportunities to save energy and how to create energy.

Don't fret about rumors.   Rumors are rumors; if they were facts we might actually be able to do something about them.   In the workplace, especially in corporations, there will always be rumors about mergers and department changes and strategic turns.  The only positive thing you can do is not honor these time detractors and keep your team moving forward.

Do Include Your Team in Decision Making.     If your team owns the decision, they will be diligent in executing it. . .vs. you trying to justify your decision and end up doing everything yourself.

Don't Engage in Internal Warfare.    It's an incredible waste of time.    The mission of the enterprise is to be a strong competitor in the outside word, not to be it's own worst enem .  Work for collaboration, not collision.

Do Take Time Away from Your Desk.    Often we sit at our desks and end up staring at situations from quite literally the same perspective.  Get up.  Take a walk.   Go to Starbuck's.    Challenge your perspective and accompanying conclusions. . .bet you'll come back with a better, more efficient way to deal with the challenge at hand.

Don't Do Things Because "They've Always Been Done."    Priorities change, group dynamics evolve and information is only useful if it's timely.    Consistently challenge the way things have been done and look for new efficiencies.

Do Share the Workload.   I have been so guilty of  trying to do everything myself because either I didn't trust anyone else to do it or it just seemed easier to do it myself.   Bad ideas - both short term and long term.   By not sharing the workload, you are not advantaging your work of the diverse viewpoints teamwork brings AND  you are disabling your work team by not teaching them how to do the work.

Don't Ignore Reality.    Sometimes there is a situation we just don't want to deal with. . .and the longer we wait, the more challenging and time consuming it becomes.    Make sure you know the facts and then deal with it already.

Don't Dwell in the Past.    It takes you backward and that's a huge waste of power.

Do Learn from the Past.   Make efficient use of past successes and perceived mistakes by learning and then continuously and consciously moving forward.

By editing when it is unnecessary to spend energy, and combing that with opportunities to create energy, you truly will be creating more sustainable leadership.

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Brent  Frerichs is the author of "Courageous Questions, Confident Leaders"  available for e-readers, tablets, PCs and Apple products on Amazon Kindle.