Episode #14. Josefine Campbell on The Personal Energy Of Agile

Agile is the most important and most impactful management innovation of the 21st Century. It’s the approach of stripping away all bureaucratic and processual obstacles to fast delivery of superior customer experiences. Agile emerged from the sneakers-and-jeans world of software development and overwhelmed and obviated the suit-and-tie world of management control and hierarchy. It’s an organizational breakthrough that opened up a whole new realm of productivity. 

The principles of agility can apply at the individual level as well as the organizational level. Our guest Josefine Campbell delivers agility as an act of self-awareness and self-management.

Find her book, Power Barometer, here, and benefit from the major points she shared with us on The Value Creators Podcast Episode 14.

Resources: 

Power Barometer: Manage Personal Energy For Business Success.

Knowledge Capsule:

1. Practice Personal Energy Management:
   • At the fundamental level, spend some time learning about the role of the amygdala in the brain’s fight-flight-freeze response.
   • This response impacts both behavior and bodily functions.
   • Raising your awareness helps control reactions and behaviors.

Action: Be aware of your personal energy level and actively manage it.

2. Use The Power Barometer:
   • The “power barometer” is a tool for quantifying personal energy levels.
   • Use it both individually and within teams.
   • Experience the benefits of monitoring energy levels, such as improved meeting efficiency and better team dynamics.

Action: Every act of management can be improved by using tools. Find one that works for you.

3. Identify Your Own Top Values:
   • There’s great significance in identifying and living in alignment with top values.
   • Select two or three core values for personal and professional life.
   • Living by these values can prevent energy drain and contribute to well-being and success.

Action: Know your own values and apply them in everything you do.

4. Live Forward and Reflect:
   • Life is lived forward, and understood better in hindsight.
   • Challenging experiences lead to valuable lessons and personal growth.
   • Reflection and learning from past experiences guides personal development.

Action: Entrepreneurship is action. Learning comes via feedback loops.

5. Navigate Change:
   • Acknowledge people’s resistance to change, especially when it requires substantial energy.
   • Manage change in a way that individuals can absorb it.
   • Infuse change initiatives with energy to facilitate smoother transitions.

Action: Continuous change is necessary, but often hard on people who prefer stability. Help them to feel comfortable, without loss of commitment.

6. Build Organizational Culture:
   • It is absolutely possible to build an organizational culture that embraces energy management.
   • Josefine’s book presents an extensive case study illustrating successful integration of energy management into the culture.
   • Focus on those who embrace the change to create a positive movement within the organization.

Action: Culture is emergent from people and their interactions, but it can be guided with positive energy.