I am lucky enough to be able to attend some fabulous ongoing training and want to share some of what I learned. The training is a version of “coaching for leaders,” but the point was made early on that we are all “leaders” in some facet of our lives. So, if you are a business leader, parent, spouse, teacher, butcher or candlestick maker, the lessons apply. The gist of the program is that, as leaders, we have opportunities to help not only ourselves but others to live happier, more engaging lives.  

The program is taught around an “energy chart,” which reminds me of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If you remember Maslow’s pyramid, the base need was physiological, followed by safety, love and belonging, esteem, and finally self-actualization at the apex. Maslow’s theory, if I remember correctly, was that we fill our basest needs first then work our way up to self-actualization.  

In comparison, the energy chart is all about how we perceive ourselves and our worlds.  There are seven levels of energy, each with an attached core thought, core feeling, and action or result. The first level core thought is “victim,” with an attached core feeling of apathy. The seventh level core though is “non-judgment,” with an attached core feeling of absolute passion. The result of hanging at level one is lethargy and the result at level seven is creation.  

The law of attraction is present and accounted for — our core thoughts create our reality. We increase our level of energy by changing our thoughts, which in turn change our feelings, which in turn change our actions. By increasing our level of energy, we have the freedom to change how we experience our lives. In a nutshell, this training defines “energy” as “how present and engaged we are; how we show up in the world.”

The training teaches that, by asking powerful, open-ended questions that encourage a change in thoughts, we can help ourselves and others search for answers to problems and open up new possibilities. This is an admittedly very basic description of the process, but the idea is to ask questions and then listen (and shut up) rather than telling people what to do.  

In our busy, distracted and goal-driven world of work today, it is seemingly much quicker to tell employees (or children) what to do. But this has consequences — employees and children become dependent on managers and parents and fail to learn. At the same time, they can struggle to have value and meaning in their worlds, a demand more and more apparent as the millennial generation makes its mark in the work world. There is not only personal value in being engaged with our work, but real business value — productivity is heightened and turnover lowered.

According to a 2016 Gallup News poll, 32 percent of U.S. workers considered themselves “engaged.” The majority (50.8 percent) of employees were “not engaged.”  Horrifically (especially if you are running a business) 17.2 percent of workers considered themselves “actively disengaged.” 

My co-workers probably think this training has caused me to lose my mind — I am likely to address a simple question with my own version of “20 questions.” However, having instinctually known for some time that the best training programs are rich learning experiences that tap into employee interests, passions and goals, I can’t wait to put my new knowledge to work!

CHRISTINA PIERCE is publisher of The Daily Iberian.