A Research Paper By Goran Gakidev, Leadership Coach, MACEDONIA
I have decided to explore and write about something that I have noticed and observed over the years of my working experience, and I have even seen the impact of it in a coaching aspect, as well as in that day’s interactions. My research paper focuses on one of the strongest forces that we are born with, yet we tend not to speak about it, we cannot see it, definitely, we cannot touch it, but we can strongly feel it.
What Is Energy?
The topic of this short article is Energy. When you think about it, you can find energy everywhere, and its impact is genuine.
The universe and everything in it are comprised of atoms, which are in part made of energy. Therefore, we should not be alarmed to learn that the form or shape of energy we transmit, and encounter, shapes our lives on multiple levels. We have all the rights as much as we have a responsibility to discover as much as we can about human energy transmission and the way it may be exploited for the better good.
I go and look at some of the books of physics or browse on the internet what we will find is that energy is the quantitative property that must be transferred to a body or physical system to perform work on the body, to move it, or to heat it. Energy is a conserved quantity; the law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in form, but not created or destroyed(Sharma, 2020).
What Is It About the Energy That We as People Generate and Radiate?
Unfortunately, not many of the leaders talk about Human Energy, not to mention that you rarely see someone that has grasped the concept of human energy, but once you explore and you are in a position to find, energy is like discovering another level of enthusiasm and excitement. Energy is like something that gives additional spirit to the human body the same that the oil/gas does to the car engine, that creates radiation or movement and embraces the change in the movement.
As we go through this research paper, you will discover what is human energy, its importance, and its reflection on self and to others. Ultimately, you will understand how human energy in its form can bring together and change companies, groups, and communities.
I am sure that all of us at some point in our lives have been around an individual who is fully present in the moment, who is attentive and dominant with his/her presence. In such surroundings, the immediate reflection is felt and the state of mindfulness is transmitted, we feel the impact, it is contagious and real.
It feels like you are walking into an environment and things are moving quicker, without even knowing that you want to be part of the same, but you cannot express what is it and how you are feeling about it. When you think about that context it’s like an emotional rush, it has the power to connect common people as one group to do remarkable things. All these feelings, these reactions, and attitudes are created and driven by human energy.
So why do we need human energy? Human energy is important because it is the elementary fuel for individual action and reasoning, and it plays a huge part in shaping employee behavior.
In my opinion, and I believe most will agree that the current Covid-19 pandemic created exceptional change, which drew a lot of panic and uncertainty compared to before. Society and different groups globally became petrified and stuck because of the lack of hope. To deal with this change in the groups and the society, we need to approach with positive energy to help compensate for all the negative energy out there. We need to unite the groups to concentrate on what is best for the whole. When we come to this, we boost confidence, we create a safe environment, and individuals feel that they belong there, and finally, they feel love.
Often the positive energy is described as relational energy. Relational energy refers to the positive feeling and sense of increased resourcefulness, an experience that is the output of dealing with someone. Some people tend to repair our energy, positivity, and levels of resourcefulness, while others either have no impact on it, or they drain our energy down.
We can reflect on the above-explained situation as an example. When you are in a presence of a positive individual that emits positive energy, this directly impacts the enthusiasm of others at work.
When energy is superimposed on others it creates a human energy field, called an aura. It has been proven that teams frequently perform in a way that matches the perceived energy within the team. In other words, where there is negative energy, teams tend to perform significantly worse than teams that are considered to comprise individuals who radiate positivity.
Maybe you have noticed that in an environment where positive energy dominates things are done more creatively. Resourcefulness is boosted and it results in a bigger resilience and grit towards personal, team, and organizational goals. That itself creates a better learning capacity that directly improves the productivity of one individual or the one of a group.
Browsing online trying to get more data on the positive energy, what as interesting to mention is that two studies that were done back in 2016 discovered that positive energy not only rises individual productivity but also: Increases employee engagement, mitigates the effects of stress, increases the speed with which employees perform tasks, increases job satisfaction and other.
As a result of these findings dating since 2016, the idea of relational energy and how leaders and managers, can increase or at the same time decrease the positive energy within their organizations is becoming a crucial question.
What Makes Energy Work?
So, what makes energy work? Energy needs to come from within ourselves, from the individual essence. In general, it evolves around several core components such as Trust, Intuition, belief, and the use of tools or concepts that give back to the group or certain individuals.
Trust is in our genes, and our childhood learning. We as humans are social beings; we are born to engage with others and to engage others, and all of that is built on trust. Trust as it is and, in its application, enables organizations and society to thrive, at the same time the deficiency of trust can lead to break up and creation of conflicts and with that negatively impact the positive energy. Trust invites individuals to be part of a relationship or a group with a common purpose and willingness to depend on one another. When trust is entirely reached or complete, we will willingly contribute what is needed, and not just by offering our being there, but also by contributing with our commitment, ability, energy, and truthful thoughts on how the relationship or the group collaboration is working. Without trust, energy cannot be even formed, but when trust is there, it unlocks freedom and peace.
Intuition, the gift of knowing without reasoning when you are not forced to overthink it’s amazing to see how it creates the needed clarity. I am sure that you have noticed, as I have seen that quite often with me and other individuals as part of my coaching practice. In some cases/situations you have done the analysis but yet you are not sure about making that decision or making move for something that is in front of you. Whereas in other cases there is not a single clue based on the analytical facts, yet and still we are seeing that clarity to make the move and decide. At one moment in my career, I didn’t want to hone to anything, a position, practice, or one direction, I was looking at broadening my horizons by taking any challenge and situation that came appropriate at that time. I have learned and I have sharpened my feelings. I have learned to hear and recognize my instincts because we constantly leave in transition and change that drives ambiguity.
Belief creates the success that brings more success, it is the self-reinforcing part that creates energy. I believe that with my practice of coaching individuals or groups and companies can be better tomorrow than it is today. I also believe that coaching where needed can serve as a spark to something amazing and something beautiful for those in need of it.
They call the ‘giver approach’, acting as helping and supporting someone at work creates an energy in the shape of encouraging emotions, the emotional benefit of giving or helping. Attaining help makes energy in the form of appreciation or gratitude. The Reciprocity Ring (is a dynamic group engagement or workout that applies the “pay-it-forward” principle within your team or group while designing and bolstering high-quality relationships), a group-level workout including providing and getting assistance promotes contributor behaviors and energy.
From Plants to People
It was interesting to find the growing field of bioenergetics and how energy derives from and has an impact on living things. Although the effects of other peoples’ energy may seem a matter of common sense, it has taken mainstream science a long time to investigate this phenomenon.
The team of scientists at the University of Bielefeld in Germany has revealed that plants have the capability not only to generate glucose using energy from the sun via photosynthesis, but they can also absorb energy from other plants growing very close to them. This discovery has been heralded as a breakthrough when it comes to understanding how plants, in this case, algae, can get their energy needs via multiple mechanisms. Furthermore, this research also has the potential to help us understand how humans can heal and help one another using nothing more than their natural energy levels.
German physician Olivia Bader-Lee has commented on the results of these findings and linked them to human interactions. “The human body is very similar to a plant that sucks and absorbs the energy needed to feed your emotional state,” she notes. She also believes that we have become alienated from nature and have been too quick to overlook the role of bioenergy in our day-to-day lives.
If we are out for a walk with a purpose to cheer ourselves up, we will notice that being in a natural environment can have a soothing, healing effect on our mood. BaderLee explains that this is due to the transfer of energy that occurs between humans, plants, and animals. This is why being in nature is often uplifting and energizing for so many people,” she says.
After exploring and understanding more about the law of conservation in some of the above paragraphs and understanding the concept of ‘bioenergetics’ the question is how do we maintain the desired level of energy?
And my say would be, by Emotions.
Being an emotional person can drain the level of energy from the human body at times. When people can tell for themselves when they are emotional and with that know how to manage the emotions, they can boost the quality of the energy they possess, regardless of what is happening from the outside. For them to do this, first we as individuals must manage our inner feelings at various times of the workday and the impact of those emotions on individual effectiveness. What most people find is that they strive to be at their best when positive energy is present. On contrary sometimes what they find is that they are not able to perform well or lead effectively when they feel differently.
Unfortunately, without occasional recovery, individuals are not capable from psychological aspect to maintaining positive emotions for an extended period. Confronted with all the challenges that are coming for them, individuals tend to fall into negative emotions—the so-called fight-or-flight mode—sometimes this can occur in repetition during the day. We as individuals tend to trigger to be irritable and impatient, or anxious and insecure. Such happenings in an individual mind can drain the energy from individuals and cause friction in their relationships. These negative emotions also block the human mind and make it impossible to think, logically, and reflectively. When individuals in the organization learn to recognize what kinds of events trigger their negative emotions, they gain a greater capacity to take control of their reactions.
So, how can we use the positive energy as leaders and managers in today’s business world?
To succeed in the approach, we need to look for more organic ways to create that positive energy that we want to transmit to others, bearing in mind that everything comes from within us (this sentence for us coaches is like the arc for Noah), the happier we are and the more positive feeling we generate the more energy will be created.
Start With WHY
While I was writing this paper, I was finishing the book by Simon Sinek, “Start with WHY”
By now you are maybe asking yourself what made me bring this in my research paper? In the above paragraphs, we have laid down the foundation of the importance and the impact of human energy on the organization. However, having or creating positive energy could not be enough, there is an interesting part that Simon Sinek explains in the above-mentioned book and that is the fact how charisma compliments the impact and stickiness.
It Is elaborated that charisma is not in any way related to Energy; it comes from a clarity of Why. It comes from an absolute belief in an idea bigger than oneself (Pile on motivation, 2020). Energy, in contrast, comes from a good night’s sleep or lots of caffeine. Energy can excite. But only charisma can inspire. Charisma commands loyalty. Energy does not.
Who is the charismatic? Everyone is, according to Jose Marti. We all carry within something of the stars when we come. (Marti, 2020)Some are suns, others, moons. No one is outside the light, be it their own, or reflected. In the end, all of us are in the light to shine.
Harness that animated energy and charisma. Because you exhibit animation, as human beings we are a charm magnet. Pull people in with your charisma. Get them on board with your ideas and mission. Now you have opened the door to persuasion. You can get them to do anything. Express yourself. Don’t be ruled by the outdated masked man who is seldom animated. Charisma moves people. Move them where you want them to go!
Generate your own light with positive energy and charisma so you can shine like the brightest star
References
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Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time N.p, n.d
Relational energy - what it is and why it matters to organizations N.p, n.d
The More You Energize Your Coworkers, the Better Everyone N.p, n.d
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