Energy keeps coming up in our conversations. With clients, leaders and teams, it’s a recurring theme which felt like the right focus for our January newsletter. When we came across an article describing energy as the new currency, it resonated immediately. And once you start noticing it, you can’t stop seeing it. Especially as energy without direction dissolves into waste.
We can’t underestimate the impact energy brings to a team. It creates momentum, sparks creativity and shapes how people experience work.
From Groundhog Day to Fire in Their Bellies
A story from the frontline: When the team walked into the workshop, you could feel it in the room.
Arms folded. Polite nods. That quiet scepticism that says, “Let’s see if this is worth a day of my time.”
They’d had five different managers in three years. Direction kept changing. Priorities were reshuffled, renamed, and relaunched, again and again. Work had started to feel like Groundhog Day. Not bad. Not great. Just . . . doing the job.
Energy was low, but not because people didn’t care. It was because effort no longer felt connected to anything meaningful.
By mid-morning, the cracks started to show. People spoke about rework, about decisions being undone, and about projects that never really went anywhere. The room wasn’t negative, it was tired.
Then something shifted.
As the day went on, the conversation moved away from updates, tasks and metrics and towards why they existed as a team in the first place. What they were actually trying to achieve together. What good looked like. What decisions they could make without checking three layers up.
By the end of the day, the energy in the room was unrecognisable.
People were leaning forward. Building on each other’s ideas. Finishing each other’s sentences. There was laughter. Momentum. A shared sense of “This is what we want to achieve together.”
They didn’t leave with a long action list. They left with something far more powerful:
- A clear direction: here’s where we’re going
- Agreed guard rails: here’s how we make decisions
- Permission and confidence: now we can get on with the work
You could see it. The fire had been relit in their bellies.
Energy doesn’t come from busyness, it comes from purpose
Without purpose, teams drift. They stay busy, but directionless. Over time, energy drains away, not because people are lazy, but because they’re unconvinced their effort matters.
Every team has “mood hoovers”, people who unconsciously bring the temperature down, and people who bring the energy. Often, the strongest leaders sit in the second group, but not in an obvious way. They lead quietly from the front, setting direction, creating clarity, and then setting people free.
They focus on what’s working, not constant nit-picking, because nothing drains energy faster than only seeing what’s wrong.
Positivity isn’t fluff. It’s fuel.
There’s also something deceptively powerful about small human moments. A smile. Someone who can lighten the mood in a heavy meeting. Someone who names what everyone else is thinking.
In our workshops, we even use props. A giraffe, for when someone wants to speak up and be heard. An elephant, for when it’s time to address the thing everyone’s avoiding. Simple tools but they change the dynamic instantly. They give people permission.
And permission is energy.
Strong leadership sets direction then gets out of the way
The teams with the most energy aren’t driven harder. They’re freed.
Freed by clarity. Freed by trust. Freed by knowing where they’re going and how to decide along the way.
When that’s in place, motivation follows and momentum builds. Energy stops being something you try to manufacture and becomes something the team generates themselves.
Go slow to go fast: Lessons from the top of an icy slope
At the start of the year, our co-founder Vic shared a reflection from the top of a mountain. Away from the noise, it struck her how often, when pressure is high, leaders instinctively add speed, when what teams really need is clarity.
Great leaders pause to reset direction, knowing alignment now saves energy later. Slowing down aligns priorities, reduces friction and sharpens decisions. Without that pause, teams may move fast, but in different directions, draining both performance and energy.
Read more: Go Slow to Go Fast – Amplified Group
Where is your team’s energy going right now?
If you’re back from kick-off feeling energised. What now? How will you turn that energy into momentum?
- Are people clear on why their work matters, or are they just getting through the week?
- Is your team aligned around a shared direction, or quietly pulling in different directions?
- And if energy really is the new currency, are you multiplying it . . . or unintentionally draining it?
This is where TeamX™ shows up as an outcome.
At Amplified Group, our Team Speed Check helps teams make energy visible: reconnecting to purpose, revealing where momentum is being created or lost, and turning collective energy into measurable results.
If you’re curious about how fast your team is really moving and what’s getting in the way, start with the Team Speed Indicator.
👉 Check your TeamX with our Team Speed Check
A Bit About Us
We are an award winning team coaching company dedicated to accelerating organisational performance. We partner with leaders to navigate complex change and operational challenges to unlock the full potential of their teams. Despite the ever-increasing use of technology, organisations are powered by people.
How fast you go is determined by how you work together. We are passionate about the difference we can make in partnership with our clients.
