Think about the last time someone walked into a room and changed the atmosphere.
(Perhaps it was you?!)
Maybe this person brought calm to a tense conversation. Maybe their enthusiasm made an impossible idea feel possible. Or perhaps their frustration made everyone suddenly more careful about what they said.
No big speech. No grand gesture.
Something shifted.
We experience this every day. In meetings. In relationships. At home. In the spaces we share.
And yet we spend remarkably little time exploring what is actually happening.
We learn how to manage our time, improve our performance, communicate effectively and become better leaders.
But what about the energy behind everything we do?
What if the most powerful thing you bring into any room isn't what you know or what you do - but the energy you bring?
This question sits at the heart of my work.
Over the years, I've come to see leadership through a different lens. One that brings together psychology, biology, human connection and something less easily measured: the felt experience of being human.
I call it Lead with Energy.
And I've distilled seven perspectives from this philosophy into a short video series: The 7 Energy Codes.
Not rules to follow. Not another self-improvement checklist.
Seven invitations to become more aware of what moves you, what drains you, how you influence others — and what becomes possible when you begin to work with your energy more intentionally.
Let's explore.
Code 01Energy Precedes Impact
Before you do anything, you're already bringing something.
We tend to think our impact begins with action.
The decisions we make. The words we choose. The work we deliver.
But there's something that comes before all of that: the state we're in.
Think of a leader entering a difficult conversation.
If they arrive tense, defensive and determined to prove a point, the conversation is likely to unfold differently than if they arrive grounded, curious and open.
Same person. Same topic. Completely different starting point.
Our internal state influences what we notice, how we interpret situations, how we communicate and how others respond.
This means the first act of leadership may happen long before we say a word.
Try this: Before your next important interaction, pause for ten seconds and ask yourself:
What am I bringing into this room — and is it what this moment needs?
Sometimes a tiny shift in your state changes the direction of an entire conversation.
Frequency Shapes Reality
The state you repeatedly inhabit changes what you experience.
Let's make the idea of frequency practical.
We all recognize that different emotional and physiological states create different experiences of the world.
When we're anxious, we become more alert to potential threats.
When we're curious, we notice possibilities.
When we're exhausted, even small challenges can feel overwhelming.
Our external circumstances may not have changed. But our experience of them has.
In my work, I use frequency as a way of talking about the quality of energy we inhabit and express.
Not as a claim that our thoughts magically create external reality, but as a reminder that our inner state shapes our perception, choices, behaviour and relationships.
And those choices can change what happens next.
Try this: For one day, notice the states you return to most often. Are you operating from urgency? Curiosity? Fear? Trust? Joy? Control? Then ask:
Which state is shaping my experience more than I realize?
Awareness creates the possibility of choice.
Leadership Is Inner Alchemy
Your energy doesn't have to stay the way you found it.
We've all heard the advice to think positively.
But what if transformation isn't about replacing uncomfortable emotions with pleasant ones?
What if it's about learning to work with what is already there?
Frustration can reveal something important about our boundaries.
Fear can point towards something we deeply care about.
Anger can contain the energy to make a necessary change.
This doesn't mean every difficult feeling has a hidden gift, or that we need to transform every emotion into something productive.
Sometimes we simply need to feel what we feel.
But inner alchemy is the practice of becoming more conscious of our internal experience — and discovering that we have more ways of responding than our habitual reactions suggest.
Try this: The next time a strong emotion arises, resist the urge to immediately fix, suppress or act on it. Instead, ask:
What is this feeling telling me? And what would be a constructive way to work with its energy?
The goal isn't permanent positivity.
It's greater freedom in how we respond.
Energy Is Contagious
Your state doesn't stop at your skin.
Have you ever spent time with someone and walked away feeling lighter?
Or left a meeting feeling strangely depleted, even though very little actually happened?
Human beings continuously influence one another.
Through facial expressions, voice, posture, attention, emotional responses and countless subtle interactions, we communicate far more than words.
Our nervous systems respond to social signals. Emotions can spread through groups. And one person's behaviour can shift the dynamics of an entire team.
This is where energy becomes relational.
Because what we bring into a space doesn't remain ours alone.
Of course, we aren't responsible for everyone else's emotional state. But we do contribute to the atmosphere around us.
And that gives us an interesting kind of power.
Try this: Observe one group interaction today. Who brings ease? Who introduces tension? When does the atmosphere change? Then turn the question towards yourself:
What becomes easier — or harder — for other people when I'm around?
Energy Calibration Is Everything
Different moments require different energy.
Imagine using the same energy for every situation.
The intensity you bring to a major presentation. The tenderness you bring to a difficult personal conversation. The focus you need for complex thinking. The playfulness that opens space for creativity.
They're not interchangeable.
And yet many of us operate from a surprisingly narrow range of habitual states.
Some people default to urgency. Others to control. Others to harmony, even when a moment requires honest confrontation.
Energy calibration means developing the awareness and flexibility to respond to what a situation actually needs.
Sometimes leadership means raising the energy.
Sometimes it means slowing everything down.
Sometimes it's about creating safety. Sometimes about introducing productive tension.
The question is not whether your energy is high or low.
It's whether it's appropriate.
Try this: Before your next meeting, don't just ask what you want to achieve. Ask:
What energy does this situation need from me?
Perhaps it's clarity. Courage. Calm. Warmth. Challenge.
Choose one quality and notice how it changes your behaviour.
Connection Amplifies Energy
Something changes when we move from ME to WE.
There are experiences we simply cannot create alone.
Think about the energy of a live concert. A sports team moving together. A conversation in which everyone feels completely present. A group of people working towards something they genuinely believe in.
The whole experience feels different from the sum of its individual parts.
Psychology and social science offer several lenses for understanding this: belonging, social connection, emotional synchrony, shared identity and collective experiences.
In my work with leadership teams, I've witnessed how powerful this can become.
When people move beyond individual agendas and connect around a shared purpose, they often access new levels of trust, creativity and collective commitment.
This is the heart of what I call THE FIELD.
Not a mysterious force we need to believe in, but an experience we can begin to recognize: the quality of connection, attention and interaction that emerges between people.
Try this: In your next group interaction, shift your attention. Instead of focusing only on what you want to contribute, notice what is happening between people. Who's being heard? Where is the energy flowing? Where is it getting stuck? And ask:
What could I do to strengthen the connection in this room?
Coherence Unlocks Power
Your energy becomes powerful when your different parts work together.
Have you ever met someone whose presence felt unusually clear?
Not necessarily loud. Not particularly charismatic in the conventional sense.
But grounded. Authentic. Fully there.
One possible explanation is coherence.
In simple terms, coherence means alignment.
Between what we believe and what we do.
Between what we say matters and how we spend our time.
Between the person we want to be and the way we actually show up.
When those elements pull in different directions, we experience friction.
We may say we value freedom but organize our lives around control.
We may want connection but protect ourselves by remaining distant.
We may believe in empowering others but struggle to release responsibility.
These tensions are profoundly human.
Coherence isn't about eliminating contradiction or becoming a perfectly aligned person.
It's about recognizing our internal tensions and making more conscious choices.
And when our intentions, actions and values become more aligned, we may experience greater clarity, agency and consistency.
Try this: Ask yourself one question:
Where in my life is there a gap between what I know to be true and how I'm actually living or leading?
Don't rush to close the gap.
Start by seeing it.
From Energy Awareness to Energy Leadership
Seven codes. Seven perspectives.
But underneath them sits one powerful idea:
Your energy isn't just something you have. It's something you live, express and bring into relationship with the world.
It influences how you experience yourself, how you respond to challenges, how you connect with others and what becomes possible in the environments you help create.
And unlike many external circumstances, your relationship with your own energy is something you can develop.
Not perfectly. Not constantly.
But intentionally.
This is where Energy Leadership begins.
By learning to recognize your patterns.
By understanding what gives you energy, what drains it, what distorts your expression and what brings you back into alignment.
And by becoming more conscious of the field you create around you.
Because every leader creates a field.
The question is: What kind of field are you creating?
