Leaders Who Read Energy Lead Differently

Almost every leader has had a moment where someone reacts in a way that’s frustrating or hard to understand.

And instantly, the brain starts explaining the behavior.

We think things like, “They don’t care.” Or “They’re being difficult.”

We tend to make meaning fast. Usually before we stop to ask what might be going on underneath it.

But what if the behavior isn’t the whole story?

What if the behavior is the brain trying to manage energy?

That’s where Energy Awareness begins.

And Energy Awareness is quickly becoming one of my favorite leadership skills because seeing energy states underneath behavior gets left out of the conversation way too often.

The overwhelmed employee who keeps forgetting details may not be careless. Their system may be overloaded.

The coworker who suddenly gets defensive may not be trying to create conflict. Their brain may be predicting threat.

The person who looks disengaged may not be lazy. They may simply not have enough energy left to stay socially connected in that moment.

This is where behavior starts making more sense.

What’s fascinating is that modern neuroscience keeps moving us in this direction. Researchers like Lisa Feldman Barrett, who I may or may not have a neuroscience crush on, have spent years helping us understand that the brain is constantly managing the body’s resources. In other words, your brain is not just thinking. It’s budgeting energy all day long.

That changes the narrative.

Suddenly you realize that some reactions are less about attitude and more about capacity.

Some people are not checked out; they may just be running low on fuel.

Harvard psychiatrist, Christopher Palmer, says that the brain can’t function well without enough usable energy.

And that’s important for leadership because sometimes what looks like resistance may actually be a nervous system trying to operate on a drained battery.

Palmer’s work keeps pushing the dialog away from “What’s happened to this person?” toward “What might be happening with this person’s energy systems?”

That should change how you read behavior. Leaders need that change because leaders shape conditions. Through how they engage, they influence how costly or manageable an environment feels to the brains around them.

Most leadership training focuses on behavior and performance. Energy Awareness helps leaders notice the conditions underneath both.

That’s a completely different way of looking at this.

What I love about this skill is that it interrupts judgment. And if you are anything like me, you need all the help you can get when it comes to interrupting judgment.

The secret sauce is that we begin asking different questions.

And of course, my go-to question is, “What might this person be trying to manage right now?”

Those of you who have been on this journey for a while already know this, brains are constantly reading other brains.

People can feel when they are being interpreted as problems to solve versus humans trying to manage demand.

Energy Awareness helps leaders slow the process down enough to notice what’s really happening before reacting too quickly.

That’s why I created the Energy Awareness Practice Path.

The Practice Path is designed to help you move from simply understanding the concept to practicing the skill in the heat of the battle. It starts with basic observation and builds toward recognizing and responding to energy states during emotionally charged situations.

Because awareness is a skill. And skills strengthen through practice.

If you’re a paid subscriber, you’ll find the full Practice Path below.

And if you’re not yet a paid subscriber, this is a great time to join in on the learning. Paid subscribers receive access to downloadable Practice Paths, eBooks, practical tools, and deeper training designed to help you apply the Neuro Informed principles in everyday leadership and life.

The science matters.

But the practice is where it starts changing how you lead.