Kim Cameron explains energizing leadership

Kim Cameron says that companies’ financial performance increases as a result of these techniques

By Susan Irais | Tec Review - 10/25/2021 Photo Shutterstock, Wellbeing 360

When you interact with the leader of your organization, what happens to your energy: is it recharged, does it run out, is it drained, or is it endangered?

Kim Cameron, co-founder of the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizations, notes that positively energizing leadership is the single most important component in predicting an organization’s success.

The expert shared the above during his masterclass at the ninth Wellbeing 360 event, organized by Tecmilenio.

Leaders: a unique factor in the success of organizations

“Leaders are the only important factor in accounting for an organization’s success,” he says.

How can we identify the leaders within an organization? The traditional way dictates that it is the person who is at the top of the organizational chart. Another way is to find out who holds all the information.

The alternative proposed by Kim Cameron is through energy, if we see the organization as a network of energies.

But it is not about physical, emotional, or mental energy because these diminish as they are used. Cameron refers to the only type of energy that increases through use: relational energy.

“It’s the type of energy that’s exchanged between individuals and their interactions. You measure it by simply answering the question: When I interacted with this person, what happened to my energy?

“This means that there is not a single leader, but rather that there can be many in different positions on the organizational chart. And the more the better.”

“Leaders are the only important factor in accounting for an organization’s success.”

Benefits of a positive energizer

If a person gives positive energy to others, this results in increased performance and greater productivity, according to the results of Cameron’s research.

“The most important finding in the research is that positive energizers not only perform better, but that their position in the positive energy network is four times more important in predicting performance than their position in the influence network or in the information network,” he says.

In addition, all those who interact with a positive energizer are affected and their performance improves too.

“The best performing organizations have at least three times more positive energizers than other organizations,” explains the researcher at the Center for Positive Organizations.

“The best performing organizations have at least three times more positive energizers than other organizations.”

Kim Cameron’s Center for Positive Organizations analyzed 40 financial institutions, provided them with instructions on what to implement, and observed their performance rate over a period of two years.

“The financial performance of companies that implemented energizing leadership was four to five times higher than the industry average,” he shares.

Cameron also led a further study with 30 hospitals using the same process, and these improved almost 10 times more than the industry average.

What is Wellbeing 360?

Wellbeing 360 is an event organized by Tecmilenio University that features international speakers such as Deepak Chopra, roundtables with experts, and workshops to help improve your health and wellbeing.

“Comprehensive wellbeing is the state of individual that contributes to their conscious, constant, and balanced development in different areas and in harmony with their environment,” said David Garza, Rector and Executive President of Tecnológico de Monterrey, when opening the event.

“Wellbeing 360 is committed to providing scientific and empirical knowledge on wellbeing and its benefits”, said Bruno Zepeda, Rector of Tecmilenio.