Sometimes It’s Good to Be Contagious

For good or bad, you spread energy and attitude. Choose good.

By Rodger Dean Duncan

Have you ever struggled with creating change in your organization?

Have you ever felt sucked into the drama and chaos of a toxic work environment?

And what about your own leadership? Would you like to have a more positive influence on your team—and with everyone else up and down the org chart?

Then you need to develop skill with navigating the roadblocks in your path. That means more focus on your intentions, your energy, and your presence.

Anese Cavanaugh can help. Her book is Contagious You: Unlock Your Power to Influence, Lead, and Create the Impact You Want. A leadership and collaboration advisor, Cavanaugh writes regularly for Inc.com.

Rodger Dean Duncan: In warning people about the dangers of our frenetic-paced, easy burnout world, you suggest “check yourself before you wreck yourself.” What are the steps to doing that?

Anese Cavanaugh: The first step is two steps that happen at the same time: breath and awareness. Breathe. As simple as this may sound, breath is the key to awareness and awareness is the key to breath. They work together. I find that 70% of this work is in our awareness (the other 30% is what we do with it). The moment we are aware of our breath, our presence, how we’re showing up, and where we are—we’re at choice. Being at choice means we have power to shift versus be victim to our circumstances.

Next step? Get truly present and curious to what’s happening; our satisfaction, our mindset, our presence, our feelings, and what we’re communicating—physically, verbally, and energetically. If I’m not having the impact I want to have or feeling the way I want to feel, or someone is not responding to me in the way I’d like, my highest leverage way to change it is to check myself first. I can check myself on how I may be contributing to it in terms of how I’m showing up, where I may be getting triggered or “matching lower energy,” what I (or the other person/the situation) may need, what my next step might be, and anything else that will serve the moment. The core thing is to breathe, be aware, get present, get curious, and take the next step.

Duncan: In a nutshell, exactly what does “contagious” mean in the context of leadership impact?

Cavanaugh: We are all contagious. We can spread our energy and attitudes (for good or bad) to each other like we can spread a cold. And we catch them from others as well. The energy I bring into the room as a leader will be felt by others, and it will either create more positive energy, “expansion,” safety, inspiration, and collaboration in the room, or it will create negative energy, “contraction,” carefulness, and isolation. Just think of the last time you were feeling good and encountered someone in a bad state who’s “vibe” was palpable. If you didn’t “hold your state,” it’s very possible you felt your own energy or outlook drop.

As leaders, we set the tone by how we show up and the intentions, energy, and presence we bring into that room and with everyone we meet. How we’re contagious, and what we decide to catch/take on from others, is a choice.

Duncan: What kind of questions should people ask themselves if they’re not having the leadership influence they wish to have?