Work Energy
I've been researching emotional intelligence lately, driven by team conflicts I've been navigating. The hardest part about managing teams isn't the strategy or the metrics, it's working with so many different personalities, each with their own goals and motivations. A colleague once told me, "Managing people would be so much easier if it weren't for all the people." That comment stuck with me and made me question something fundamental: Do I actually want to be a leader, or is it just something I feel I need to do?
Looking back at my path, captain of my varsity football team, West Point (fundamentally a leadership school), Ranger school (learning to lead in the worst conditions), and managing people since my first job leading a platoon in Iraq, I realized something striking. Despite all this leadership experience and training, I was never taught about emotional intelligence or why it matters. I thought it was simply about empathizing with people.
Then I discovered a framework that changed how I think about leadership energy. iPEC coaching introduces a model for assessing energy levels that provides remarkable insight into workplace behavior and team dynamics.
The Seven Levels of Energy
Level 1: Victim Energy A state of low energy where individuals feel powerless, avoid responsibility, and disengage from challenges. If you feel your ideas are routinely ignored but never speak up because "no one listens anyway," you might be operating here. This leads to quiet disengagement and growing resentment toward leadership.
Level 2: Conflict Energy Driven by anger and resistance, marked by judgment, defensiveness, and a need to win or control. You're passed over for promotion and immediately assume office politics were involved. Worse, you resent peers who did get promoted. That resentment spreads to your manager, and you begin undermining decisions.
Level 3: Coping Energy Characterized by rationalization and compromise, people manage stress by tolerating situations rather than challenging them. You disagree with a new company policy but don't speak up, telling yourself, "I just need to put my head down and do the work." You comply outwardly while burning out internally, never bringing your authentic self or ideas to work.
Level 4: Care Energy Heart centered energy focused on empathy and helping others, leading to collaboration but risking self neglect. When teammates struggle with projects, you consistently jump in to help despite being overwhelmed yourself. You put in extra time to prevent others from failing, great for the team, but a path to personal burnout.
Level 5: Solution-Focused Energy A solution oriented mindset that embraces challenges with optimism, viewing setbacks as opportunities to grow and innovate. When your organization restructures, instead of complaining about change, you focus on how to make the new structure work better for everyone.
Level 6: Connection Energy Marked by deep intuition and connection, individuals create effortlessly and lose themselves in meaningful work. You're leading a brainstorming session, fully immersed in the process rather than trying to control it or "look smart." You build on others' ideas, encourage creative thinking, and help the team reach unexpected solutions.
Level 7: Bliss Energy The highest energetic state, reflecting complete non-judgment, presence, and unity, where ego dissolves and work becomes pure expression. You're facilitating a team offsite when someone challenges your ideas mid-session. Instead of reacting defensively, you smile and say, "Interesting, tell me more." You let go of ownership and ego, trusting the moment completely, which opens up more honest and transformational conversation.
The Leadership Application
None of us operates at a single energy level across all aspects of our lives. We'd all like to claim we're at Level 7, but honest self assessment usually reveals otherwise. The power lies in treating energy as something we can actively manage and improve.
As leaders, we should assess both our own energy levels and those of our team members, then develop plans to help everyone reach their highest possible level. This isn't about judgment, it's about growth and creating the conditions where people can bring their best energy to work.
Start by noticing your own energy, then help your team elevate theirs. That’s the real work of leadership.
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