How can we encourage leadership growth in the work environment, and let go of old habits and patterns that no longer serve us?
Leadership Growth Begins with Energy, Not Authority
When people think about leadership growth, they often focus on learning new management skills, communication techniques, or strategic planning.
Those things certainly matter.
But after many years working in corporate IT, training, business ownership, and now New World Energetics, I’ve come to believe that the greatest driver of leadership growth is something much more universal.
It begins with intention.
Intentions Are Everything
A leader’s intention shapes far more than their decisions.
It influences how they listen, how they respond under pressure, how safe people feel around them, and ultimately the culture they create.
I’ve experienced leadership from many perspectives.
I worked on a busy IT help desk supporting the broadcast media industry, where stress levels were high and colourful language was part of everyday life.
I managed a team of technical trainers, and later co-founded a successful independent training company where Friday afternoon paperclip fights were considered perfectly acceptable team-building exercises.
I’ve worked with inspiring leaders.
I’ve also worked with leaders who taught me exactly what not to do.
Every one of those experiences reinforced the same lesson:
Leadership is less about authority and more about the energy you bring into every interaction.
Bosses tell people what to do. Great leaders inspire people to become more than they thought they could be.
Leadership Growth Requires Seeing People as They Are
Throughout my training career, I was often given the students described as “difficult.” I rarely found them difficult – because I didn’t allow other people’s opinions to front-load my mind.
I chose not to inherit someone else’s opinion of them, because I believe every person deserves to be met fresh.
No gossip, labels, or assumptions. These things can ultimately be career-damaging. Performance is the key to knowing if someone will work in an organization.
When we approach people with curiosity instead of judgment, they often respond very differently.
This applies just as much to employees as it does to clients.
Leadership growth happens when we become fully present instead of reacting to stories we’ve already created.
A Classic Resource: Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Clifton and Donald Buckingham
Energy Flows Down Through an Organisation
There’s an old saying I learned from a course on business partnerships:
“The fish stinks from the head down.”
I’ve always found that to be remarkably accurate. The flavor of leadership energy spreads in an organisation. If the leadership style is fear-based, then the ‘stink’ of fear will spread.
If the leadership style is based on trust and clarity, then that is what will spread.
With good management and the right business systems, teams rarely become dysfunctional because it’s an issue with the team.
Highly engaged teams usually reflect leaders who create psychological safety, clear communication, and genuine respect.
At New World Energetics, I describe this as business energetics.
Every organisation develops its own energetic pattern based largely on the consciousness of its leadership.
Leadership Growth Includes Inner Growth
Traditional leadership training usually focuses on external behaviours.
Business energetics begins one level deeper.
It asks questions such as:
- How is it that some leaders naturally inspire trust?
- Why do other leaders repeat the same workplace conflicts regardless of where they work?
- What causes some people to avoid leadership altogether despite being highly capable?
Sometimes the answers lie in learned behaviours or the person’s family systems.
It’s also possible that leadership behaviors are the outcome of deeply held beliefs about authority, responsibility, or success.
And for those open to a more expansive perspective, they may also reflect patterns carried within the personal energy field of that individual.
I don’t ask anyone to adopt my worldview through my approaches; I simply invite people to become curious about the patterns they continue to repeat.
Awareness is often the beginning of transformation.
Your Personal Energy Influences Leadership Growth
One of the most fascinating discoveries in my own work has been how accurately a person’s energetic blueprint reflects the way they naturally lead.
Some people are designed to innovate, whereas others naturally stabilise teams; then again, some people are powerful at communicating a vision.
There are team leaders who excel at creating harmonious teams
Leadership growth doesn’t necessarily mean becoming someone else – often it means becoming more fully yourself.
When people understand their natural energetic strengths, leadership becomes less exhausting, because it becomes more authentic.
The Success Codex Chart is part of discovering your Success Flow in the New World Energetics business model. If you’d like to learn more about all 4 aspects – aligning with the Field of Intelligence, your Business Lattice, your unique Design and Success Flow- sign up for my email learning series below.
Leadership Growth Is About Alignment
Many leaders spend years trying to force themselves into someone else’s leadership style.
That rarely works for long. Sustainable leadership comes from alignment between:
- your values
- your natural strengths
- your intuition
- your decision-making style
- the personal energy you consistently bring to your team
When those elements work together, leadership becomes clearer, calmer, and far more effective.
A Different Way to Think About Leadership Growth
One of the questions I often ask business owners and leaders is this:
What if the biggest obstacle to leadership isn’t a lack of knowledge—but unconscious patterns you’ve never been taught to recognise?
Those patterns may come from past experiences, workplace conditioning, or even family dynamics.
Some of them may simply be habits that have become invisible.
Whatever their source, they influence every decision we make.
The good news is that patterns can change. When we increase self-awareness, understand our own energy, and lead from authenticity rather than reaction, leadership naturally evolves.
That, to me, is what leadership growth is really about.
It isn’t becoming a different person.
It’s becoming a more coherent version of the leader you already have the potential to be.
