Leadership is all about harnessing energy—your own energy, and the energy of those in your organization.
True leaders, those who have incredible clarity of vision and purpose—people like Howard Schultz of Starbucks and Jacqueline Novogratz of Acumen Fund—rely on massive amounts of energy, harnessed on three levels:
• Individual: Leaders must find the source of their personal energy in order to persevere despite obstacles and setbacks.
• Team: Leaders must harness the energy of team members toward a shared vision.
• Organization: Leaders must galvanize the energy of the entire organization to sustain long-term success.
Finding your own personal source of energy is the foundation for true leadership. Once you clarify your purpose and the values you will use to achieve it, you’re on the way toward creating a better future.
But energizing yourself isn’t enough—you have to align the energy of others in your organization toward a shared purpose. Think about them on two levels— teams and the organization at large. Energizing teams is about turning individual employees into co-leaders. Energizing the organization is about facilitating their success by shaping three high-level business levers. Let’s take a look at each tier.