While there have been some undeniable shifts in leadership styles within the energy industry, your vision of a "stereotypical" oil and gas leader probably still leans more towards vinegar than honey when it comes to communication and motivation styles. And in some cases, a bit of vinegar is absolutely necessary to generate a sense of urgency and momentum.

However, as several observers of the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference have pointed out, all of the vinegar pouring out of the mouths of world leaders this week may be undermining their climate goals...especially when such toxic language isn't met with the innovation and forward-thinking that their stakeholders are clamoring for.

That being said, this live episode of The Energy Detox will take some lessons learned from those world leaders to help you uncover ways that your communication style—be it flavored with honey, vinegar, or some carcinogenic artificial sweetener—is hindering your desire for long-term, sustainable success.

The headline: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐎𝐏26 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟𝐟 – 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (by Simon Kelner of i News UK)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 Are you leading yourself and others toward something positive or away from something negative?

💡 Are you protecting an intermediate goal at the expense of your ultimate objective?

💡 How long will your current messaging keep your stakeholders interested and motivated...and awake?

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On this off-cycle Election Day, you'll undoubtedly hear about how abysmally low voter turnout is in most states, excepting Virginia and New Jersey. But is high voter turnout the best measure of a "successful" electoral process? Similarly, when companies tout high "employee engagement," are they mistakenly elevating mindless—if not forced—employee participation to a level greater than it really is?

The headline: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞? 𝐍𝐉 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞 (by Brian McCrone of NBC10 Philadelphia)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 Are you placing a higher value on "participation" than on genuine engagement?

💡 In what ways are your employee polls protecting leadership's existing biases?

💡 What is the most sustainable approach to employee engagement for your organization?

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To commemorate All Saints' Day, we use the ongoing adoration of St. Greta of Sweden as an opportunity to help you determine whether you're fueling a culture where certain leaders (perhaps even yourself) are viewed as saints, thus masking potentially fatal flaws that can unwittingly lead stakeholders into damnation.

The headline: 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐎𝐏26 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐠𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 (The Straits Times)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 Are you growing a sustainable team or a cult of personality?

💡 Are you protecting your cause for sainthood at the expense of your stakeholders?

💡 Do you have a devil's advocate to hold you fully accountable?

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If you watched coverage of yesterday's House Oversight Committee hearing with the leaders of several #oilandgas majors, you were likely subjected to the same political theatre and posturing that make up a sickening portion of these types of hearings. But even if you count yourself lucky to not be a part of such performances, go ahead and use yesterday's headlines about this hearing as an excuse to ask whether you're unwittingly sounding more like a politician on camera to your stakeholders than the thoughtful, apolitical, self-aware leader you THINK (or hope) you are.

The headline: Oil giants deny spreading disinformation on climate change (by Matthew Daly of AP)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 Do your questions unlock meaningful answers or induce defensiveness?

💡 Are you unwittingly asking questions that protect a narrative and/or your ego?

💡 How much time and #energy are you wasting on fruitless "dialogue?"

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With news that EQT Corporation has optimized some of its firm transportation portfolio, this morning's a good time to ask yourself whether the commitments governing your professional and personal life are still providing the same value you'd anticipated when you signed up for them...assuming you even remember signing up in the first place.

The headline: EQT sells portion of its capacity on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (by Paul J. Gough of The Pittsburgh Business Times)

The goal: to (G)row, (P)rotect, and (S)ustain success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 What unnecessary commitments are hindering your ability to flourish?

💡 How much time, energy, and money are you spending to protect old habits?

💡 Are you unwittingly signing up for an unsustainable level of new obligations?

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Using yet another headline pointing to dwindling Cushing storage, this live episode of The Energy Detox will help you properly measure and value your personal energy reserves.

The headline: U.S. demand for oil surges, depleting tanks in Oklahoma (Reuters)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 How might your personal growth be outpacing available resources?

💡 Does the value you command reflect your full potential?

💡 Have you unwittingly become an energy hub for your stakeholders?

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Well, regardless of your answer, this live episode of The Energy Detox will use yet another headline about the escalating cost of energy in Europe to help you revisit the most fundamental elements needed for you and your stakeholders to sustain professional momentum heading into the winter.

The headline: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬: 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 (Reuters)

The goal: to (𝐆)𝐫𝐨𝐰, (𝐏)𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 (𝐒)𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 What are the critical building blocks for continued growth?

💡 Who are the people you are tasked with protecting?

💡 How can you mitigate the effects of professional and personal volatility?

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To help you answer that question, this live episode of The Energy Detox will use some climate news out of China to reframe the way that you are approaching your professional and personal commitments.

The headline: China says it must consider food and energy security when curbing emissions

The source: Reuters (David Stanway and Dominique Patton)

The takeaway: Just as China says that it needs to “manage the relationship between pollution reduction and carbon reduction and energy security, industrial supply chain security, food security and normal life of the people,” you, too, should be asking how well you're balancing your core principles against potentially conflicting stakeholder demands.

The goal: to (G)row, (P)rotect, and (S)ustain success by pondering these 3 questions throughout your day:

💡 How might your short-term focus be hindering long-term growth?

💡 What are the hidden costs of protecting a flimsy narrative?

💡 What tools are you using to better connect your purpose to your people?

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Thanks to the inescapable “energy crisis” headlines flooding newsfeeds, the world’s AWARENESS of energy—or at least awareness of rising energy costs—is greater than it’s been in years.

As is often the case with headlines, however, they can distract you from underlying issues that may be even more problematic—albeit not quite as sexy or attention-grabbing as something labeled with the word “crisis.”

Similarly, many energy industry leaders are suffering from a “Consciousness Crisis” and are unwittingly ignoring issues that are chipping away at their credibility and effectiveness as they and their teams focus on navigating the energy crisis, the supply chain crisis, the labor crisis, and whatever other crises are grabbing their attention.

That being said—and in honor of Energy Awareness Month—this episode of The Energy Detox will raise awareness of the common (yet often hidden) barriers holding leaders like you back from achieving sustained success.

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How much of your precious time, energy, and money do you invest (waste) on conventional leadership resources?

Are you trying to outrun (or outscroll) an avalanche of books, webinars, podcasts, videos, articles, and nauseating LinkedIn posts?

If so, take a moment to challenge the advice, slogans, and quotes your connections are sharing and ask yourself some of the unconventional questions posed in this episode of The Energy Detox.

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If you thought the Colonial Pipeline attack was bad, just wait until you see how vulnerable your company’s communication pipeline is to leaks, corrosion, bottlenecks, and other potentially catastrophic threats.

And to help you identify those vulnerabilities, this episode of will lay out the 5 most important communications-related questions you and other energy industry leaders need to ask so that you can avoid unwittingly damaging your personal and professional relationships.

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Sure, you may be sitting in the driver’s seat…but your passengers know that your “autopilot” leadership style is driving them away from long-term success.

So, to prevent the leadership equivalent of “highway hypnosis,” we kick off Season 2 of The Energy Detox by sharing 5 parallels between Driving, Drilling, & Leading that you need to be aware of so that you don’t wind up stuck on the side of the road, in a mile deep hole, or at a hopeless organization.

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While the universally condemned events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 were inexcusable, indefensible, and counter-productive, it remains important for you as a leader to ask whether you might be settling for “peaceful” transitions in your own life when what you and your stakeholders actually need is a little bit of (lawful and non-violent) disruption.

And in this Season 1 finale of The Energy Detox (recorded November 2020), you’ll be encouraged to ask:

1) "In what ways am I unwittingly sabotaging my chances of long-term success because of short-term (and misguided) pressure from my stakeholders?" and

2) “How are the hundreds of discrete ‘transitions of power’ I make each day unwittingly draining my precious time and energy?”

And to help you answer those questions, we’ll weave together examples from sports, parenting, the global “energy transition,” corporate mergers & acquisitions, and—of course—from the U.S. presidential transition.

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The writer H.L. Mencken once said, “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple…and wrong.”

And with this idea in mind, one could argue that the KISS principle—which commands us to “keep it simple, stupid”—may not be enough to provide truly sustainable solutions to the many complex problems facing our planet and its 8 billion inhabitants.

And when it comes to leading teams, families, and businesses, it’s unlikely that merely embracing simplicity is going to yield the sustainable success that you and your stakeholders desire.

So, in this episode of The Energy Detox, we propose a slight tweak to the KISS principle that encourages leaders to “keep it sustainable, stupid.”

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