The Thermostat Season 2 Ep 11 – Positive Mindset: Pulling Energy

Positive Mindset picture of a battery

Our minds are filled with both positive and negative. In fact, both are needed. Like a battery, the power shifts when the energy is pulled from the negative to the positive. What direction are you pulling? Is everyone on your team aligned and pulling in the same direction? Mindset impacts the outcomes you experience.

Listen on apple podcasts

Listen on google podcasts

SHOW NOTES

0:51 – Jason shares a story about his child’s field day playing tug of war.

2:08 – Who wants to play boys versus girls? The children cheered and get into their groups. The boys yell and scream being macho and the girls were quietly getting organized. The girls were ready, they elected a team captain who told them to pull together on three, two, one. Every time, the girls would win.

3:43 – There are some parallels here to the modern workforce in terms of organization and leadership that Jason explores. So many different generations run in and just grab the rope without proper leadership everyone loses this tug of war. Everyone has their idea of how to best pull the rope but we aren’t taking the time to align ourselves. The best leaders know that we need to get everyone on the rope, lined up, and in coordination working together to be successful.

5:29 – It begins with our mindset. Are we only focused on our individual pursuits? What is our role, how strong are we, can we pull the rope?

6:08 – There is a positive and negative side of every battery. The way that a battery gets its power is when the electrons are pulled from the negative side to the positive side. In every organization, negative tension exists from time to time. Positive and negative are always at play. The adversity is needed and is just part of the equation.

8:15 – The process of shifting that negativity to positivity is what is needed to power that battery and helps fuel us. Getting an action plan is what helps pull that energy rather than just push. Great leaders rally the team to pull the energy toward solutions, toward progress. The vision matters, the leaders that don’t have a solid foundation and vision are the ones that end up with scattered and misaligned teams.

Questions to ponder, step back and ask:

  1. Who are the players who are grabbing the rope in life or work?
  2. Are they pulling in the same direction?
  3. What proactively can you do to help pull the energy from negative to positive?

Remember, both negative and positive always exist but the best seek out ways to align the minds and hearts of their people to get everybody looking in the same direction and pull the energy together from negative to positive. How will you align your people and pull the energy next?

If you like the podcast, have a question, or just want to share your thoughts for about daring to begin please leave a comment below.

ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT

Conversations and micro-thoughts to engage your mind and heart.

A thermostat is proactive. It sets the temperature in a room. Controls the temperature. Regulates the temperature. But in today’s distracted, fast-paced and digital world, it’s easy for individuals and organizations to act more like thermometers, slipping into reactionary thinking, becoming scattered and inconsistent. The most compelling leaders, teams, organizations, families or collection of humans of any kind operate in thermostat mode. They calibrate their mind and heart to set the temperature for the vision and culture they want to create. Jason Barger, globally celebrated author, keynote speaker and founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, is the host of The Thermostat, a podcast journey to discover authentic leadership, create compelling cultures and find clarity of mission, vision, and values.

LEARN MORE AND SUBSCRIBE