Recharging Leadership: Why Energy Matters More Than Ever

Leadership starts from within.

Whether you guide a team, shape strategy or make high-stakes decisions, your ability to lead others depends on how well you lead yourself. Yet self-leadership is one of the most overlooked areas in business today.

Australia now reports the highest rate of burnout in the world at 62 percent compared to a global average of 48 percent. This is driven by fewer people doing more, longer hours, unclear expectations, lingering post-pandemic fatigue and cultures that value process and progress over people.

The result is overwhelm, burnout and declining wellbeing. Short-term fixes like muffins or yoga breaks do little to create the sustainable energy leaders need.

Energy is the new currency of leadership. Without it, we cannot bring our best selves to our work or our lives. As the saying goes, “Give the world the best of you, not what’s left of you.”

The Five Energies of Leadership 

To thrive, leaders must create balance across five areas of wellbeing:

Emotional energy: how we feel and EQ

• Mental energy: how we think and respond
• Social energy: how we connect with others
• Physical energy: how we function in our body
• Spiritual energy: what we believe and nurture

This year in particular, I have seen many executives operating in survival mode, with health, careers and relationships suffering. This is why I have been running keynotes and workshops on Who is Looking After the Leader, equipping leaders with strategies and tools to re-energise.

A great activity is to do a simple self-assessment of where your energy is at today by rating it 1-5 and if not high when was the last time you felt at your best.

• What were you doing?
• Who were you with?
• How were you feeling?

Strategies Leaders Can Apply Now 

Start a “No” list and review it monthly to set boundaries
• Nurture a support network of five trusted people
• Create clear digital, physical and emotional boundaries
• Practise gratitude to focus on what you do have, not what you lack
• Do what lights you up and schedule it into your week
• Delegate to empower others and free yourself to lead
• Embrace the Gift Mindset by seeing challenges as lessons
• Spend time outdoors to reset and regain perspective

Leadership is a Choice 

How we lead ourselves is within our control. We can either deplete ourselves or invest in the energy that fuels growth, connection and service to others.

When leaders take care of themselves first, they lift not only their own lives but also the wellbeing and performance of those they lead.

So, ask yourself: Are you giving others the best of you, or what is left of you?

Written by Renée Giarrusso.

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