To last without hardening in a demanding context
How can you fulfil your role as leader without becoming bitter, frustrated or dehumanized?
Fatigue and stress blur the view of what has really been achieved.
Many of the leaders I coach work hard all year round. They motivate their teams, absorb tensions, make tough decisions, and stake their reputations by raising their profile with the higher-ups. At the end of the year, they sometimes feel they’ve “done their job badly”. They could have done better, as the old saying goes!
Rereading an article by Moak Casey s article on the five energies of leadership, I found a valuable reading grid to help you take a fresh look at the past year. Not to judge, but to understand which energies supported your leadership… and which were put to the test.
Here’s a summary of the 5 energies of leadership, which overlap to form a whole.
The energy of intention
When the context becomes unstable, many leaders plunge even deeper into operations, sometimes with remarkable intensity!
Action then becomes an automatic response, designed to soothe the discomfort of uncertainty.
There’s no denying it.
On the other hand, stopping, reflecting and questioning intentions require an inner availability that few people allow themselves when the pressure is on and everything seems to have to move fast.
But…
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What’s really behind all the fuss?
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How does this action fit in with your vision for the team and the business?
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And, in the words of Simon Sinekwhat’s your Big Why behind this choice, beyond the apparent urgency?
The energy of intention manifests itself in the ability to link everyday decisions to a larger purpose, even when the path remains unclear, even when all the answers are not yet available.
The leaders who endure are not those who do the most work to save their teams from overload. They are the ones who, at the right moment, know how to reconnect with their founding intention without letting themselves be carried away by old reflexes.
The energy of discernment
The energy of discernment is very subtle…
Discernment is expressed when tensions arise; discernment consists in spotting, in the other’s words, what is acceptable. Can you let go of what you think is right? This posture is based on intellectual curiosity, which helps to stabilize the exchange and avoid unproductive escalation.
This is where theintegration of opposing viewpointsand innovation become possible. Power with, a concept dear to my heart. The aim here is no longer to be or to demonstrate that you know what you’re doing.
Discernment therefore also implies a mature relationship with one’s emotions and inner feelings. Recognizing an emotion, then examining what it reveals without letting it dictate the interpretation of the situation requires discipline and a certain emotional sobriety.
Limiting distortions is an integral part of this process.
Under pressure, each of us tells ourselves stories. Some simplify, others dramatize. Discernment invites us to question these stories, to distinguish facts from interpretations, and to reconstruct a more reliable reading of the situation.
Finally, discernment means knowing how to create the right framework.
Reformulating a problem, shifting the focus, changing the collective narrative often allows possibilities to emerge where only dead-ends were seen before. The work ofAmy Edmondson shows just how much the quality of the framework conditions the quality of exchanges and decisions. Long before her, Aristotle already referred to this practical wisdom – phronesis – as the art of making accurate judgments in complex, imperfect situations.
Energy for growth
The energy of growth is revealed in moments when a leader acknowledges that she has made a mistake, without dramatizing or questioning her skills and abilities.
This attitude requires acceptance of fallibility when others are observing us. Accepting that one’s position evolves, exposing one’s thinking, soliciting feedback and confronting one’s choices with other points of view implies giving up a certain image of mastery.
The research presented in Think Again byAdam Grant shows how the ability to publicly revise one’s thinking is a strong marker of professional maturity. Credibility is not about infallibility, but about how a person learns, adjusts and progresses under constraint.
Growth energy takes time. Some awarenesses produce immediate effects. Others infuse more slowly, then translate into discreet but lasting adjustments.
When a leader allows herself this movement, she also creates the conditions for others to evolve. Growth then ceases to be individual. It becomes a shared dynamic.
The energy of connection
This energy remains one of the most misunderstood in organizations. I keep saying that people also come to look for love in their professional activities.
But the term is disturbing. It reflects a persistent difficulty in recognizing the place of the link in the exercise of leadership.
In my opinion, the teams that last are those where the quality of the relationship is worked on with intention. Generation Z is particularly attentive to this. It requires genuine recognition of contributions, sincere attention to the individual, and the ability to welcome different points of view.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you try so hard to preserve the relationship out of benevolence, you end up saying nothing at all.. Julia de Funès points out: a benevolent attitude that avoids conflict at all costs masks disagreements and weakens both individual and collective responsibility. And yet, when worked on, disagreements bring intelligence to the system.
Giving without expecting returns also exists in the corporate world. I see it in leaders who have integrated the energy of love. The results are not the same as in teams where execution takes precedence over relationships.
The energy of self-realization
This last, more discreet energy manifests itself as a form of calm joy, deeply linked to inner alignment and serenity.
The work of Brené Brown and her latest book Strong Ground testifies to the extent to which inner coherence nurtures confidence, creativity and long-term commitment.
In demanding environments, this energy becomes a precious resource for exercising leadership without wearing out.
Closing the year
These five energies are neither a model to be applied, nor a list of skills to be mastered. They offer a possible reading of leadership as it is lived today, in constrained, changing and sometimes confusing environments.
Before we turn the page on the year, there are a few questions we might want to leave open:
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What energy has been most in demand in my leadership over the past 12 months?
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Which one did I neglect the most, consciously or unconsciously?
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What do I keep saying yes to, and for what deep-seated reason?
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Or am I confusing speed with accuracy again?
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What mistakes have I really learned from?
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Which link today deserves more attention, clarity or repair?
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How much room do I leave for joy, meaning and alignment in my role?
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What energy do I want to embody when the context becomes uncomfortable again?
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What does my leadership really need to last, without hardening?
That’s all there is to it. All you have to do now is take the time to describe your assessment of the 5 energies of leadership, before starting again with the new energy of the year 2026.
