This way of thinking made a huge impact on the way I showed up

I adore the coaching model I was trained with through iPEC.  The energy levels I’m writing about here are my interpretation of the copyrighted work of Bruce D Schneider and the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC).  I found the concepts helpful well before I was ever trained in them; I’m hoping the concepts are helpful to you as well. 

I remember sitting in a meeting one day that was feeling… contentious.  Rising frustration, poor communication and an inability to manage personal energy were tangible.  I remember getting off the call and just feeling blah. It was not a fun meeting.  Looking back, I realized it wasn’t just their mindsets that made the meeting difficult—mine wasn’t anything to write home about either. At a high-level, there was a lot of, "I’m right and you’re wrong.  The end".  

Compare that to another team I worked with that was consistently knocking it out of the park.  There were bumps from time-to-time, but overarchingly the team was appreciative of each person's role, great at solving problems that pop-ed up, and clear on the vision of the project. There were challenging days, but mostly it felt like winning.

A difference between these two teams? Energy and mindset.

To help you understand energy / mindsets, at a high-level, they're like a lens you put on that shades how you see the world - how you think, feel and act is impacted by the lens. Sticking with the lens metaphor, here's how they progress:

Protective Lenses:

1. Survival Lens - STUCK, in high self-judgment and doubt.

2. Struggle Lens - Defensive, combative with a side of strong outward judgment.

Progressive Lenses:

3. Toleration Lens - Willing to accept less than desired for progress.

4. Empathy Lens -  Deeply caring and happy to help and see others win.

5. Opportunity Lens - Mutual benefit is key and a strong ability to see possibilities.

6. Vision Lens - A clear vision about the destination and a lack of fear about the journey

7. Passion Lens - Able to create and embrace whatever the experience brings.

While we don’t show up in just one level all the time (and we might have to choose a protective lens from time-to-time), the truth is we often gravitate to a couple favorite mindsets. On good days it might be a more specific progressive energy/mindset we gravitate towards and on tough days, we might toggle down more consistently to one of the protective mindset lenses. 

In the contentious meeting we saw a protective way of thinking, feeling and behaving. Survival and struggle lenses were the norm as everyone was duking it out to be heard, blinded to possibilities that would have broken us free and feeling weighed down as progress toward the goal was coming to a stand-still. 

In the second meeting, there was much more openness as people were grateful and options seemed endless.  As we created something new, we all dipped into vision and passion mode off and on throughout our time together. Feedback wasn’t personal, it was just information to make something we were excited about even better.

As I learned about these levels, I put them to work for myself as I still do today. With challenging meetings or work I think through the lenses ahead of time and decide what mindset I want to show up in.  Guess what? It makes a difference.  Viruses aren’t the only contagions.  Our emotions are too.  Awareness of our energy and mindset gives us the opportunity to better understand why we’re showing up the way we do and the ability to decide if we want to do something different. It doesn't stop with just us, as I frequently saw the impact of my mindset choices influencing others.

The first step in shifting your energy is noticing where you are now. Here’s a simple way to start...

Try this: Take a step back and observe yourself as if you were watching someone else. Write a short observation in the third person about a pattern or way of showing up that you notice about yourself.

Examples:

• She feels like she needs to hold things together all the time.

• He gets frustrated multiple times a day over small things.

• She seems so calm in chaotic situations.

Now, ask yourself: “I wonder why?”

Don't feel like you need to rush to the answer. Just sit with the question for a couple of days and notice what thoughts or insights emerge.

When you’re ready, take it one step further:

• Which lens does this pattern align with—Protective or Progressive?

• What’s one small shift you could make toward the mindset you’d prefer to be in?

• If you're happy with the mindset you're connecting with, how can you get more of that in your life?

• If this observation were about someone else, what advice would you give them?