Leadership as managing energy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provoke academic and practitioner thinking by asserting a set of leadership principles first in oneself and then in others. Design/methodology/approach The paper asserts a set of leadership principles, including a new definition of leadership, namely to manage energy. First, most managers seem to use more traditional definitions, like getting people to focus on a common goal, and, second, to focus on others at the expense of recognizing how their own energy level affects those around them. Findings Leaders and managers should first reflect on leading themselves and their own energy, while paying more attention to real buy‐in rather than superficial buy‐in. Moreover, leader/managers should pay more attention to the degree to which they live “outside‐in” and therefore behave less “leader‐like” on the inside. Leader/managers can begin to use “level three” techniques rather than the more superficial “level one” (visible behavior) and “level two” (conscious thought) techniques. In this way, managers change the way they think about managing themselves. Originality/value This paper builds on, and adds to, the work of Ed Schein, Albert Ellis, William Glasser, Tony Damasio, and others. The originality lies in the collection and integration of concepts raised by these writers, and others.