Let me share something I’ve noticed in my years working with executives and teams - there’s this incredible moment when a leader walks into a room and everything just… shifts. It’s not about their title or even what they say. It’s something more fundmental. It’s energy.

In todays fast-paced, always-connected workplace, we’re facing challenges that no leadership book from twenty years ago could have predicted. Teams scattered across time zones. The constant pressure to innovate. The blurring of work and life boundaries. And yet, through all this complexity, I’ve watched certain leaders create these amazing spaces where people somehow manage to do their best work while actually feeling good about it.

What’s their secret? They understand something that recent studies in organizational psychology have confirmed - that people fundamentally need to matter. We need to be seen. Heard. Valued. Needed. These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re the building blocks of workplaces where innovation and wellbeing can actually coexist.  But here’s the million-dollar question that keeps many of my coaching clients up at night: How do we create this sense of significance while keeping the creative energy flowing? The answer lies in understanding the profound connection between your energetic presence and your leadership impact. 

I remember the first time I picked up Dr. Sue Morter’s book, The Energy Codes. I was on a flight to Toronto for a conference, struggling with exhaustion and innovation block. By the time we landed, I had underlined half the book and was seeing leadership through an entirely new lens. At the heart of Dr. Morter’s approach is this powerful idea: “we are energy. Our matter, mind, and thoughts are energy. Our flesh and bones are energy.” When I started working with leaders from this perspective, something remarkable happened. We moved beyond seeing organizations as just structures and processes. We began to recognize them as dynamic energy systems that either amplify or diminish human potential.

Think about this for a minute. As a leader, your energetic presence isn’t some woo-woo concept - it’s actually setting the tone for every meeting, decision, and interaction within your team. The latest neuroscience backs this up completely. Your energy field literally impacts the biochemical responses of the people around you. You can either trigger their creative potential or activate their protection responses that shut down innovation completely. I’ve seen this play out countless times. A leader enters a meeting exhausted and stressed, and within minutes, the team’s energy plummets. Creative thinking stalls. Another leader walks in centred and present, and suddenly ideas start flowing. This isn’t coincidence - it’s energy dynamics at work.

One of my clients, a Principal from Edmonton School, couldn’t figure out why her school team meetings had become so unproductive. On paper, she was doing everything right - clear agendas, the right people in the room, good questions. But something was missing. We started working on what I call “full-body leadership.” Before every meeting, she’d take three minutes to practice grounded breathing, consciously releasing tension from her body. No checking emails. No mental to-do lists. Just being fully present.

“This feels indulgent,” she told me the first week. By the third week, her team was generating 30% more actionable ideas in meetings. Her presence had created safety that allowed real innovation to emerge. As Dr. Morter explains, “If it isn’t flowing in your life, it’s because it isn’t flowing in your body!” I’ve found this applies perfectly to leadership. If creativity isn’t flowing in your culture, look first at where energy has become blocked within your own leadership patterns.

Another client, leader in IT company, was brilliant at articulating his vision but somehow kept hitting resistance with his manufacturing team. When I observed his communication, I noticed something interesting - while his words were inspiring, his energy was anxious and controlling. We worked on bringing his energetic intention in line with his verbal communication. Before speaking, he’d pause to connect with his core intention. Was he speaking from fear and control, or from vision and possibility? That simple awareness shifted everything.

I’ve seen this approach transform leadership communication. It’s not just about what you say - it’s about the energetic frequency behind your words. Are you contracting or expanding your team’s thinking? Try practicing what organizational psychologist Zach Mercurio calls noticing, affirming, and needing - see your team members fully, affirm their unique gifts, and show how they’re absolutely essential to the mission.

Let’s be real - leadership is exhausting. I’ve worked with too many executives who’ve hit the wall because they treated energy like an infinite resource. Traditional stress management focuses on coping mechanisms, but that’s like putting a bandaid on a broken arm.

Energetic resilience is completely different. It addresses the root source of organizational depletion by transforming how we relate to energy itself.

One healthcare executive I worked with implemented what we called “energy audits” with her leadership team. They started recognizing deplation patterns not as failure but as valuable information. They created regular practices for energy renewal - including a radical “no-meeting Wednesday” policy and mandatory outdoor breaks between deep work sessions.

The most powerful shift was that she started modeling energetic self-awareness by honoring her own energy needs rather than perpetuating the burnout culture that had become standard in their industry. Within six months, not only had innovation increased, but turnover had dropped by 22%.

The journey toward energetic leadership begins with recognizing a simple but profound truth: everything is energy, including your leadership presence. 

How will you harness this understanding to transform your team, your organization, and ultimately, your leadership legacy?

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Where have you seen energetic leadership make a difference in your work?