Redirecting Your Leadership Thinking - Unleash the Energy Within

There is something in physics called the “Law of Conservation of Energy” that states “energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another.” A excellent metaphor for leadership…to be successful you shouldn’t stop your team’s energy, you must find a way to transform or redirect that energy toward the desired mission.

Most of us have walked into business situations where we just wanted to “stop” something. We tried to stop a negative behavior, a misaligned practice or policy, a destructive culture, an idea we disagreed with, etc. While I 100% agree with trying to stop things that are unethical or that jeopardize people’s safety, many other times it’s not the best course of action. 

Before getting into the why and how let's start with a story illustrating the concept of “redirecting” versus “stopping.” 

MY INTRODUCTION TO REDIRECTING

One afternoon back when I was in college, I had to pick up a friend at a martial arts studio where he studied and trained. He said he worked with an excellent instructor who also taught many on the local police force, and if I got there early to come in and watch. I came in for the last five minutes of the class, and what I saw amazed me. The instructor was a smaller man who was able to “own” people much larger than him. He wasn’t even challenged, not moving much as he threw people around with what appeared to be little effort. He seemed like a real-life version of Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies, using special effects "magic."

After the class was finished and the students left to get their belongings, I walked over to the instructor in an attempt to get some quick tips. I gave him some compliments, then asked, “ok, come on. What’s the secret?” He politely smiled and said there wasn’t one. It’s about hard work, self-discipline, timing, practice and blah, blah, blah (that’s what I heard at least). I then asked him another question, “is there an overriding ‘thing’ or philosophy around what you just did?” That’s when he gave me a “gift” that I will never forget.   

He reiterated there was no magic involved, it was just a matter of subtly “redirecting” someone else’s energy. He gave a few examples, “I cannot physically stop a larger person charging at me, but I can redirect their energy slightly to send them in another direction. I cannot physically stop a stronger person’s arm coming at me with a knife or fist, but I can redirect their energy slightly away from me to avoid the strike or in a way that immobilizes them. I cannot pull a stronger person’s arm off my neck, but I can redirect their energy slightly downward to free me and/or disable them. As a matter of fact, most of life is about redirecting energy.”

I retained the information but did not fully process the broader metaphor until my first management role...”It’s all about redirecting energy.” Once I understood the concept, many of the common but hard to solve problems I had faced in the past now seemed less daunting.

APPLYING THE LESSON

When applying the simple lesson in the story above to the all too common business scenarios below, the benefits of "redirecting" versus "stopping" can be more clearly seen…

• Don’t stop the creativity - Is it more effective to say "no" to every person’s idea, or to redirect their creativity slightly through brainstorming and collaboration to make the ideas more successful?

• Don’t stop the passion - Is it more effective to stop and berate a front-line employee for doing something incorrectly, or to redirect their passion toward what you’re truly trying to accomplish?

• Don’t stop solving for the broader business mission - Is it more effective to stop a sales person’s commission potential when they have driven record sales for the company, or to redirect their ingenuity to figure out how to do it with everyone?

I've just recently seen a top sales performer leave an excellent job in the automotive industry because of this exact compensation struggle. Sad, because a "win-win" treasure was buried right in front of them, they just needed to dig a little.

REDIRECTING YOUR THINKING

Here are some tips to help you with redirecting your thoughts and actions -

• Use your words. Words are very powerful, triggering behaviors and action, so be very intentional here. The mother of a very successful friend of mine used to say "Can't never could" to her children when they said something couldn't be done. Getting them to use the right words from an early age made a big difference, as they were always ready to take on more opportunities and tackle anything in life. Here are some examples of “Stop” words - no, can’t, never, not, won’t. Some examples of “Redirecting” words - yes, can, why, how, we.

• Stay positive. A can-do mindset, a belief that there is always a path or better way, will set the stage to redirect a bad situation effectively. As Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're right.”

• Listen and be empathetic. It’s tough to redirect if you’re not listening and understanding other points of view…there is not much to redirect if you don’t. One of Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly successful people is to “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” This powerful habit not only helps with redirecting, but also with many other critical activities such as building relationships, establishing trust, negotiating, and problem-solving…just to name a few.

One personal benefit of redirecting that I've seen and experienced is that you will become more optimistic. I believe this is due to the "positive mindset" skills you have to apply. This alone may be worth the effort.

As far as leading other people, the challenges of creating a successful team, organization, or business can seem overwhelming. This is especially true if you are just managing people's time, which has finite limits. Energy, on the other hand, has far fewer restrictions based on its most fundamental definition. There was a Harvard Business Review article written on this topic a few years ago, entitled “Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time.” A great piece that shared stories about the downfalls of just managing time.

Once you and your team start redirecting effectively, you will be harnessing your people’s energy, not just managing their time. This is when your organization's enormous power and potential will be truly unleashed.

So, say "yes" and give it a try. I bet that people will soon be asking if you're using special effects "magic" too!

Image by Jason Briscoe