A Book You Should Read Now The Power Of Full Engagement

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers A Book You Should Read Now: The Power of Full Engagement Laura is a lawyer I coached when I was in charge of attorney development in my old law firm. One night when she and her husband were eating dinner with Nancy and me, Laura shared with us that at the end of each day after she put her two children in bed, she was absolutely exhausted and dreaded starting the same grind the next day. Like many lawyers I know, Laura rarely got up from her desk while at work. She frequently ate lunch at her desk and spent most of her time focused on her computer screen. When I heard Laura describe her typical day, I suggested that she read the book: The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. I have both the written book and the audio version and I urge you to read or listen to the book if you end each day exhausted. I love a point the authors make early in the book. They say: To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interest. Full engagement begins with feeling eager to get to work in the morning and equally happy to return home in the evening and capable of setting clear boundaries between the two. The authors assert there are four key energy management principles: Chapter Ten of the book is titled: “Taking Action: The Power of Positive Rituals.” In that chapter the authors note that “a growing body of research suggests that as little as 5 percent of our behaviors are consciously self-directed. We are creatures of habit and as much as 95 percent of what we do occurs automatically…” They point out that great performers all rely on positive rituals to manage their energy and achieve their goals. They suggest that these great performers have rituals that optimize their ability to move rhythmically between stress and recovery. How did reading this book change what I was doing? First, I divided my lifetime goals into four categories: •      physical/economic •      mental and growth •      emotional and relationships •      spiritual Second, I decided to get up from my computer and least once an hour; I quit sending emails to someone who was just down the hall from me; I quit eating lunch at my desk; and, I changed my exercise routine to include interval training. Finally, I tried to create positive rituals including getting up early to workout, setting aside time to work on client development and spending Saturday afternoon with my daughter, Jill and playing golf each week with my wife, Nancy. The book includes a full Corporate Athlete Performance Development Plan. Interestingly, I found many of the same steps in the plan that I included in the Personal Performance and Development Plan I had prepared for associates in my firm. Are you exhausted when you get home each day? If so I urge you to read The Power of Full Engagement and make the changes suggested by the authors.   I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.