Become a true thought leader at work and create real engagement

According to the American analytics and advisory company Gallup, employee engagement is the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.

In its recent publication, "The state of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report," Gallup revealed that 67% of U.S. employees are not engaged in their work.

Disengaged employees equate to greater job turnover, more mistakes, absenteeism, burnout and lower profits.

Engagement is an inside job

There is an entire industry out there that is focused on increasing employee engagement.

There are great apps like donut.com and motivosity.com and old standbys like employee surveys, team days and virtual lunches to help.

Yet, based on my years in recruiting and career coaching, I know that being an engaged employee is not an external job that gets fixed by cool tools and team-building exercises. Engagement is an inside job that starts with the individual.

Work culture, which feeds engagement, is built from the top down in an organization.

Creating engagement with yourself and your work is not hard.

It starts with a concept: Everything that has ever been created started with a thought.

I thought, "I want to make a pot of chili" and so I did.

Someone thought of the idea of an ice cube tray and made it.

Everything begins with a thought. Once you realize this, it is hard to deny how powerful our thoughts are in creating the results we have today and the future outcomes we desire.

Become a true thought leader and create greater engagement

If you want to be considered a "true thought leader" and reengage with your work, you don't have to write more white papers or speak at more conferences.

You simply harness the power of your thoughts.

The process to harnessing the power of your thoughts and creating greater engagement with your team is simple yet profound. Try this:

Part 1: Your current situation.

Step 1: Describe an upcoming work situation that you are not looking forward to.

Example: A performance review with an underperforming employee.

Step 2: Describe all the thoughts you are having about the situation.

Example: This employee is always in a bad mood. This conversation is going to go well.

Step 3: Describe the feelings you are having about the situation.

Example: I feel anxious. I feel frustrated.

Step 4: Describe any actions you have taken so far with regards to the situation.

Example: I read through the performance review. I complained about the situation to my spouse.

Step 5. Describe the results that have occurred from you actions thus far.

Example: More frustration. My spouse has tuned me out.

Part 2: Creating greater engagement by intentionally creating your desired results.

This step requires you to lean into your imagination. We always have the choice of which thought we want to believe. In this step you are creating new thoughts that could be equally true as the ones that are causing you to feel disengaged. Keep in mind-you do not have to actually believe these thoughts in order to benefit from the exercise.

Step 1: Using the same situation and your imagination, come up with alternative positive thoughts you could believe about the situation.

Example: I am looking forward to this conversation. This employee will come prepared.

Step 2: When you think the above thoughts, describe the new feelings you are having about the situation.

Example: I feel energized. I feel open.

Step 3: Describe any new actions you might take, given you are believing these new thoughts.

Example: I read through the performance review. I saw several areas where this employee has made strides and contributed to the success of their projects.

Step 5. Describe the results that might occur from your new actions.

Example: Productive conversation with employee. The employee took ownership of where they have been underperforming and expressed their desire to change things.

When you question your thoughts and consider a new way to think about situations that are causing you stress you become a "true thought leader" who can change how you and your teammates are engaging at work.

Now think about that.

• Laurie Swanson, CEO of InspiHER Tech (inspiHERtech.com) and the creator of the Career Reset (inspiHERtech.com/career-reset) program supporting women in tech to get their career drive back and be fully engaged in their work again. Download your Intentional Results Creation pdf HERE or email me at Laurie@inspiHERtech.com.