Our childhood, our biases can affect the way we lead and the results we get from our team and company. Jeannie Moravits Smith talks about Energy Leadership, what it is and how to address your childhood biases and build your leadership core values to change yourself and those around you positively.
Who Is Jeannie Moravits Smith?
Jeannie is the founder and CEO of Dynamism Leadership, formerly HR-Rx, a leadership coaching and consulting firm established in 2005. Jeannie has helped thousands of leaders learn how to take charge of the catabolic thoughts and feelings that control their mind and how to use anabolic energy to act and embrace change.
Prior to HR-Rx, she held executive leadership roles at a variety of organizations. Jeannie holds certifications in leadership coaching, energy leadership, & human management, as well as a Master of Science degree in Human Resources.
What is Energy Leadership?
Energy Leadership is the process of developing a personalized and effective leadership style to influence and change yourself and those around you positively. As individuals, we tackle everyday life through filters. According to Jeannie, these filters will either limit or expand what we see. Unfortunately, most of these filters have roots in our childhood experiences. So, the first step to becoming an effective leader is to address your childhood biases and build your leadership around your core values.
How to Lead Through Your Core Values
Most leaders don’t have core values. And what’s even more depressing is that they don’t appreciate the power of having core values. But here’s the thing; when you don’t honor your values, your emotional, mental, and physical state suffers. How? Well, as Jeannie explains, values are what make us who we are and highlight what we stand for. People who are incongruent with their values are more likely to fall into bad habits and regress into poor leadership traits.
If you’d like to learn how to lead through your core values, the most important step is to learn how to respond instead of constantly reacting to everything. The problem with reacting is that people react quickly, with little thought, and often from a place of negative emotions. And we all know that negative emotions often lead to bad decisions.
In order to handle daily interactions with our team members, leaders need to become conscious of the moment, wait, think through the situation, and then respond. Jeannie believes that consciously holding yourself and taking a deep breath before uttering anything is the most important skill a leader can have. Not only does it empower you to stay true to your core values, but it also limits the probability of a situation becoming worse.
What Does Your Team Think of You?
Do you know what your team thinks of you? Do you even have an idea of what your team thinks of your leadership style? If you answered “no” to both of these questions, Jeannie believes you have some work to do. Now, of course, some leaders won’t care as long as things get done. But if you want to be in leadership long term, you need to connect with every team member. The last thing you want to deal with is disrespect, eye rolls, skipped meetings, or missed deadlines. Jeannie adds that you don’t even have to make them like you; you just have to show them that you care and have their back.
If you’re unsure of the type of relationship you have with your team, just ask them. Have a one-on-one meeting with them and discuss how you could add value to their work life. Remember, people rarely leave their jobs because of salaries. But they are more likely to leave if they don’t feel connected to the leadership team.
Why Communication is So Important For Leaders
Communication is the key to all leadership success. In fact, good communication is an essential characteristic of a good leader. Regrettably, most leaders don’t know how to communicate effectively. Just because you’re constantly writing emails, facilitating meetings, and giving updates don’t mean you’re a great communicator. Communication is more than that. Effective communication is having the ability to give your team members the chance to solicit feedback, ask questions, and share ideas. This makes them feel like they’re part of the bigger picture. But more importantly, as Jeannie explains, it allows you to get to know their strengths, weaknesses, interests, etc.
If you want to improve your communication skills, start by listening more, practicing empathy and transparency, and being clear about what you expect from your people. Only then can you influence and inspire your team and let them know that you see them as human beings and not roles looking to be filled.
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