How to Lift Your Energy as a Leader (One Small Experiment at a Time)

The simplest way to lift your energy as a leader isn't a new routine or more discipline. It's one small experiment you can run this week — try it, watch what happens, and keep it only if it works.

Energy is the resource leaders most want to protect

Energy is one of the things leaders raise with us most often. It's what they're trying to protect, restore and sustain — across long days, back-to-back meetings and the constant pull on their attention. When energy runs low, everything else gets harder: presence, patience, and the quality of the decisions they make.

Good intentions rarely change behaviour

Leadership is full of good intentions. We intend to have more energy, be more present, hold better conversations, take proper breaks. But intention on its own almost never shifts behaviour. What changes behaviour is action small enough to actually take.

How to lift your energy as a leader: try a small experiment

We're always on the lookout for practical ideas to share with leaders, which is how we came across Dr Amantha Imber's book The Energy Game. One of her suggestions for boosting energy is peppermint oil — so before a recent workshop, we decided to test it.

The group had already spent two full days at a conference, and we were facilitating a three-hour afternoon session. Energy in the room was always going to be the challenge. So rather than talk about energy, we tried something.

Before anyone sat down, we placed a small bottle of peppermint oil on each table. People smiled. They picked the bottles up, passed them around, compared notes and laughed. Before the session had even started, the energy in the room had lifted.

Was it the peppermint oil? Maybe. Or maybe it was simply the act of trying something different. Either way, it's a pattern we see constantly in leadership development: a small experiment lowers the stakes. You're not committing to a new habit or overhauling your week — you're just testing one thing and paying attention to what happens.

Worth noticing this week

So here's this week's thought starter.

• What's one small experiment you could try this week to lift your energy?

• Don't worry about whether it will work — just try it.

• Pay attention to what happens, then decide what's worth keeping.

If you'd like a practical starting point, Amantha shares nine energy hacks in this article.

Frequently asked questions

How can leaders lift their energy at work?

Start small and specific. Rather than overhauling your schedule, pick one low-stakes change — a proper break, a change of environment, a different way to open a meeting — and notice its effect. Energy tends to lift through small, repeatable adjustments rather than one big fix.

Why does a leader's energy dip during long or back-to-back days?

Sustained focus, constant decisions and little recovery time all draw down the same reserve. Without deliberate breaks or changes of pace, energy erodes across the day — which is why protecting and restoring it matters as much as pushing through.

What's a quick way to boost energy before a meeting or workshop?

Change something in the environment or the state of the room — stand up, open a window, move, or introduce a small sensory cue like peppermint oil. Even a brief shift can reset attention and lift the energy people bring into the room.

Leadership is a practice, not a position. Your energy grows gram by gram — one small, intentional experiment at a time.