Leadership Pulse
ENERGY DECLINED AGAIN!
As you can see in the above graph, leader energy declined. The data show that the number went down for the overall results and for the subset of people who responded during the last time period. Probably worse than the decline (at least by our research) is the fact that the overall number shows that the leaders responding are, on average, 1.08 points below the zone where they report being most productive (the zone is 7.60 to 8.64, and their average energy is 6.52. Being below the zone by one or more points has been shown to predict negative outcomes going forward (e.g. turnover, lower productivity, lower sales, etc.). We will be reporting out more data over the next few weeks, but given this overall trend - what do you think is happening?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by James Hayton on -
This is interesting. I think given the general economic climate, perhaps this is not surprising. Are we all running faster and faster just to stay in the same spot?
Also, Theresa, perhaps you can shed light on this for those of us new to the project, are there any seasonal cycles emerging in the data? I know at this time of year I start to run out of steam. After 6 months of racing against deadlines, responding to opportunities (and threats!) and generally working my tail off, summer is here, its getting hot, people are all slowing down. Are we seeing any summer 'doldrums' effects in the ongoing measurement of energy levels?
Perhaps the occupational/industry and geographic breakdowns can help us understand this as well? I will look forward to learning more from the data as it emerges. cheers!
-
Permalink Reply by Theresa M. Welbourne, Ph.D. on -
James, I posted the long-term trend data on the main page. Let me know what you think!
-
Permalink Reply by David Zinger on -
Theresa,
This is sad data and I do wonder the reasons for it. The Canadian resource economy is booming yet I often encounter leaders who feel depleted and discouraged. I wrote an article with 21 quick invitations to rekindle leadership energy...what do you see as the response to the dwindling energy?
David
-
Permalink Reply by Lori Silverman on -
Data can do one of three things: stay the same, go up, or go down. Because I'm not familiar with the longitudinal aspect of your research, my question is, "Is there a statistical trend over time?" Or are we seeing a process (set of processes) that normally has (have) quite a bit of variation in it (them)? If this is a trend, I posit that leaders of all kinds, including myself, have been running flat out for years. And this behavior is starting to take its toll on us physically and mentally. While I love the article that David Zinger shared in his posting, I've learned by engaging in the behaviors he mentions that they are necessary and not sufficient for me to effectively rejuvenate. However, I'm afraid I am not able at this time to put my finger on the missing ingredient. Perhaps someone else has a thought about this.
-
Permalink Reply by Theresa M. Welbourne, Ph.D. on
-
You are right to question just this one number. What's probably more disturbing to me is the overall trend data I see in energy and other metrics. Our last survey was on confidence, and we found that leadership confidence too declined. Also, as I present this data, I see rooms of people nodding their heads in agreement and we move on to conversations about how exhausted people are.
People all seem to have too much work and be very confused about shifting priorities. I'm starting to wonder if many of the management 'tools' we have simply will not work in this day and age. I wrote a short article on the idea that direction today is more important than strategy.
Take a look and let me know what you think.
-
Permalink Reply by Jon Ingham on -
Theresa, can you explain the leadership energy trend on the home page - energy seems to have increased from 6.49 in February to 6.51 in June.
Assuming this is just my mis-understanding, I agree with Lori and you that one cause for reduced energy is likely to be too much work and too many / shifting priorities.
I wonder if meaning is another? (and my comments are just wondering rather than fully formed thinking).
I believe western society is rapidly self-actualising, and people are searching for more within their roles at work. And at the same time people are becoming increasingly cynical about traditional business missions eg beating the compettion.
Proactive leaders are increasingly moving from the private to the public / voluntary sectors within their main or additional roles, or are moving out of business completely. Others are left in private sector organisations feeling somewhat unfocussed. (You might pick this up in the survey although I think increasing targetting is leaving the public sector rather less engaging too.)
So leaders are increasingly busy doing things they increasingly find less important. Hence reduced energy.
Could this be part of it?
I also made some suggestions for tackling lack of meaning on my HCM blog recently: http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/2008/07/search-for-meaning.html.
© 2010 Created by Theresa M. Welbourne, Ph.D.
