The power of full engagement (2003)

[...]... we undertake Every one of our thoughts, emotions and behaviors has an energy consequence, for better or for worse The ultimate measure of our lives is not how much time we spend on the planet, but rather how much energy we invest in the time that we have The premise of this book—and of the training we do each year with thousands of clients—is simple enough: The Dynamics of Full Engagement 5 Performance,... Has a Why to Live ix x Contents Part Two 129 The Training System Chapter Eight 131 Defining Purpose: The Rules of Engagement Chapter Nine 148 Face the Truth: How Are You Managing Your Energy Now? Chapter Ten 165 Taking Action: The Power of Positive Rituals Chapter Eleven 183 The Reengaged Life of Roger B Resources 195 Summary of the Corporate Athlete Full- Engagement Training System 197 Organizational... live our lives Less than 30 percent of American workers are fully engaged at 6 The Power of F u l l E n g a g e m e n t THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT Old Paradigm New Paradigm Manage time Avoid stress Life is a marathon Downtime is wasted time Rewards fuel performance Self-discipline rules The power of positive thinking Manage energy Seek stress Life is a series of sprints Downtime is productive time... Rituals rule The power of full engagement work, according to data collected by the Gallup Organization in early 2001 Some 55 percent are "not engaged." Another 19 percent are "actively disengaged," meaning not just that they are unhappy at work, but that they regularly share those feelings with colleagues The costs of a disengaged workforce run into the trillions of dollars Worse yet, the longer employees... and 8 The Power of F u l l E n g a g e m e n t year-end rankings They want to be able to sink the putt on the eighteenth hole in the final round, hit the free throw when the game is on the line, catch the pass in a crowd with a minute to go on the clock Anything else is just talk If we couldn't deliver results for athletes, we didn't last very long in their lives We learned to be accountable to the numbers... pleasant the energy, the more efficient it is Full engagement and maximum performance are possible only in the high positive quadrant The importance of full engagement is most vivid in situations where the consequences of disengagement are profound Imagine for a moment that you are facing open-heart surgery Which energy quadrant do you want your surgeon to be in? How would you feel if he entered the operating... psychologist They lived in a suburb of Phoenix, on a cul-de-sac with a half dozen other young families, in a house that they had helped to design themselves Between their demanding careers and the challenge of raising two kids who had busy schedules of their own, life was very full But it was also a life that they had worked hard to achieve At first blush, it was difficult to see much of a problem Nonetheless,... would have offset some of the effects of overeating and also provided a powerful way to detoxify negative emotions and to renew mentally His explanation was that he simply couldn't find the time or the energy to work out He was on the road most mornings at 6:30 By the time he got home in the evenings, beat from an hour-and-fifteen-minute com- 22 The Power of F u l l E n g a g e m e n t mute, the last... assess their diets, and give them a detailed questionnaire designed to measure precisely how they are managing their energy physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually We also have five of their closest colleagues fill out a similar questionnaire All of this data gives us a clear picture of their current energy capacity and the obstacles that stand in the way of full engagement To launch this process... relieve tension—was now gone Instead, she spent much of her free time helping her mother with the increasingly demanding task of caring for her father The pressure of her father's illness, added to the demands of being a mother and working at a fulltime job, had plainly sapped her energy reserves It also made her even less available to Roger He understood the stresses that Rachel was under, but couldn't . bringing them to the Corporate Athlete program for seven years. It changes how they think, the way they live their lives, and their level of commitment to their work. The Power of Full Engagement. about batting averages, free-throw percentages, tournament victories and 8 The Power of Full Engagement year-end rankings. They want to be able to sink the putt on the eigh- teenth hole in the. talented people and equip them with the right skills for the challenge at hand, they will perform at their best. In our experience that often isn&apos ;t so. Energy is the X factor that makes it