Energy Reflection Leadership
The mood of your company is often just your own energy bouncing back at you.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
Energy Reflection Leadership is the recognition that a leader's emotional state cascades through the organization and often returns to them as the very 'company mood' they're reacting to. Seckler realized about seven years into leading that when he was stressed the whole company was stressed, and when he was optimistic the company was optimistic — his own energy was getting reflected back in his face. The practical response is two-fold: first, before reacting to conditions, ask whether they are a reflection of your own energy; second, do intentional self-care — early rising, exercise, thinking, meditation, sleep — so you can stay even-keeled and sit with others' strong emotions, which he calls a superpower for both company and family.
Origin
Roughly seven years into his leadership career, Seckler kept noticing he was unhappy with the company's attitude and mood. He eventually saw what should have been obvious: when he was visibly stressed or frustrated the whole company mirrored it, and when he was optimistic and high-energy it mirrored that too. Later, as CEO and a father of three daughters waking at 5:30am for alone time, he connected staying even-keeled to deliberate self-care and named managing this energy as central to showing up well.
Core principles
- 01Energy flows in two directions between a leader and their team.
- 02When the leader is stressed or frustrated, the whole company tends to mirror it.
- 03When the leader is optimistic and high-energy, the company tends to reflect that too.
- 04Intentional self-care lets a leader stay even-keeled and sit with others' emotions.
How to run it
- 1
Check the mirror first
When you're unhappy with the company's mood, first ask whether the conditions you're experiencing are simply a reflection of your own energy.
Watch out Blaming the team for a mood you actually projected keeps you blind to the real source.
- 2
See the two-way flow
Recognize that energy moves in both directions and often starts with you, then returns amplified.
- 3
Do intentional self-care
Build regular routines — exercise, thinking time, meditation, adequate sleep — to keep your mind right.
Pro tip Carve out reliable alone time; Seckler uses roughly 5:30 to 7:15am before the household wakes.
Watch out Skipping sleep and self-care has costs beyond health — it erodes your patience, thoughtfulness, and ability to sit with others' discomfort.
- 4
Stay even-keeled under emotion
Use your regulated state to sit calmly with people going through strong emotions, whether fear or excitement.
Pro tip Treat even-keeled presence as a gift to both your company and your family.
In the wild
Seckler would notice he was unhappy with the company's attitude, then realized that whenever he was stressed the whole company was stressed, and whenever he was optimistic it was optimistic — his own energy was being reflected right back at him.
→ He made checking his own energy the first lens he applies before reacting to organizational mood.
Common mistakes
Blaming the team for the mood
Reacting to a stressed or negative company atmosphere without checking your own energy misdiagnoses a problem you may have created.
Cutting self-care to get by
Sacrificing sleep and downtime because you can costs you patience, thoughtfulness, and the capacity to hold others' emotions steady.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders and managers whose emotional state visibly sets the tone for a team or company.
Not ideal for
Individual contributors with no team whose mood does not cascade to others.
From the transcript
“when I was stressed out or visibly frustrated, the whole company would tend to be stressed out and visibly frustrated”
“what I was feeling was actually just my own energy getting reflected right back in my face”
From the episode
Mike Seckler: How to Build a Business That Thrives When Others Fail
Mike Seckler