A Deeper Understanding of Vitality
Through my research and experience, I have found one concept essential to leadership—and often missing from the conversation—is “vitality.”
Vitality traces back to Ancient Greek and Asian cultures; it is known as chi in China, ki in Japan, bayu in Indonesia, and prana in India, and it describes the underlying energy or life force flowing through all living things.
Vitality is defined as the positive aliveness and having access to the energy within oneself (Ryan & Frederick, 1997). It is on the opposite end of the spectrum of burnout.
The results of my research provide a more holistic way to understand vitality with the Leader Vitality Scale, a three-factor model, inclusive of: physical, psychological and emotional energy.
The Leader Vitality Scale shows the three areas within an overarching construct that are important for how we care for our energy every day. Ultimately, the model provides a roadmap of how to cultivate our own vitality.
Physical: do you have the energy for your own physical wellbeing?
Psychological: do you have the energy you need to be the master of your mind? To choose what thoughts you give energy to and maintain a positive outlook?
Emotional: do you have the energy to be aware of and influence your emotions?
Vitality gives us access to our full leadership capacity. There are so many demands on leaders, yet leaders aren’t given a roadmap of how to cultivate their own energy to deliver on this output. When we care for our vitality every day, we have the energy resources to show up and perform at our best without depleting ourselves.
One way that we can build vitality is through caring for our wellbeing through the nine pathways of wellbeing.
Replenish Your Vitality
Leaders have a lot of energy going out into the world. But what about energy going in? Replenishing your vitality is about focusing on what brings us energy in the three categories from the Leader Vitality Scale: 1) physical 2) psychological 3) Emotional + 4) Spirit.
While Spirit wasn’t part of the vitality study due to it being a hard concept to measure, it is an important component of energy replenishment. Spirit is about connecting to your highest self and to something greater than yourself.
Exercise:
Imagine what gives you energy in each of the categories
Body/physical: what serves your physical body?
Mind/Psychological: what activities intellectually stimulate you and give you energy?
Heart/Emotional: what fills your heart?
Spirit: what connects you to something greater than yourself or to your best self?
List what replenishes your energy in each category on the Energy Worksheet found here. Be willing to brainstorm: include things that you are currently doing, things you might not have tried or even things you once did as a kid.
What do you notice about your own energy replenishment list?
Action: Choose one small step you can take to replenish your energy this week. Remember new habits begin one small step at a time.
