The Power of Full Engagement: Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal

I recently re-read this book and was curious to know to what extent (if any) it has lost any of its relevance during the years since it was first published, in 2003. My conclusion? If anything, it is even more relevant now than it was before. However, that said, I still presume to suggest to those who are thinking about reading that they ignore the title and focus on the methodology that Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz introduce and then explain. Of course, full engagement has power. However, I cannot think of even one company among those annually ranked by Fortune to be the most highly admired, the best to work for, etc. that has full engagement. In fact, the results of recent research by the Gallup Organization and Towers Perrin clearly indicate that, on average, about 25-30% of employees are actively and productively engaged, about 35-40% are passively engaged (doing as little as necessary to stay employed), and about the same percentage are actively disengaged, with many of them hostile and having a toxic effect within their workplace.Obviously, the challenge for business leaders in all organizations (whatever their size and nature my be) is to increase the percentage of those workers who are actively and productively engaged. What do Loehr and Schwartz suggest? All of their insights and recommendations are based on a vast amount of real-world experience with all manner of organizations. What they offer in this volume is the Full Engagement Training System®, a comprehensive and cohesive program that enables us to manage energy efficiently. The methodology is based on four separate but interdependent principles:1. Full engagement requires drawing on separate but related sources of energy: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. "All four dynamics are critical, none is sufficient by itself and each profoundly influences the others [for better or worse]. To perform at our best, we must skillfully manage each of these interconnected dimensions of energy."2. Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with underuse, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal. "We rarely consider how much energy we are spending because we take it for granted that the energy available to us is limitless. In fact, increased demand progressively depletes our energy reserves - especially in the absence of any effort to reverse the progressive loss of capacity that occurs with age."3. To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do. "Stress is not the enemy in our lives. Paradoxically, it is the key to growth. In order to build strength in a muscle we must systematically stress it, expending energy beyond normal levels. Doing so literally causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. At the end of a training session, functional capacity is diminished. But give the muscle twenty-four to forty-eight hours to recover and it grows stronger and better able to handle the next stimulus."4. Positive energy rituals - highly specific routines for managing energy - are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance. "Change is difficult. We are creatures of habit. Most of what we do is automatic and nonconscious. What we did yesterday is what we are likely to do today...A positive ritual is a behavior that becomes automatic over time - fueled by some deeply held value."As indicated earlier, Loehr and Schwartz have devised what they call the Full Engagement Training System® and one of several key points they make is that both supervisors and those for whom they are directly responsible are active in this program, one that involves a shared journey of observation, revelation, and increased understanding. Another is that there are continuous role reversals for both "students" and "teachers" during frequent knowledge exchanges. Still another key point is that one of the most important drivers is the human need to find meaning, "among the most powerful and enduring themes in every culture since the origin of recorded history." And still another is that those who are purpose-driven must also constantly nurture and regularly renew their "most precious resource," energy, and expend it only in the service of what matters most.Forget about having a workforce with full engagement and concentrate on increasing the number of workers who are fully engaged. Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz can provide invaluable assistance to those who are now planning or who are only recently embarked on efforts to achieve that worthy objective.

I am not an expert on the subject. Therefore, I submit this review for your respective analysis. The invaluable research completed by Loehr and Schwartz is remarkable! Regarding other reviews submitted for this book, I found them to be unremarkably shallow and maliciously hollow.An outrageously incredible coach will help build new skills, nourish changes, and reach goals for the corporate athlete; and remain with that person over an extended length of time to build consistency. Admittedly, there are other aspects to the 'overall state of the human psyche' such as having great parents, great spouse; perhaps a mentor, a sponsor, a guide and other supportive elements.Loehr and Schwartz have discovered that properly distributing positive energy is more important than managing time expended on a daily basis. The top-down performance pyramid model addresses the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit to reach the Ideal Performance State.In my humble opinion, to attain this level of consistency over the span of two or more decades for an executive is impossible. The research could be realistically applied for a world-class athlete since he or she has a much shorter time (and attention) span and the coach is still around.However, I will contradict myself now and submit that maybe, just maybe, it is possible. Here is my reasoning. Recently, I met a new group of world-class athletes who are challenging traditional rules. This new breed does not comprehend the word "NO" and the positive energy, reflected in diet, exercise, and mental agility is not only healthy but contagious.A few weeks ago, I also had the pleasure of meeting a 24-yr. Chinese-born executive who received her business training and experience in Germany. She is fluent in six languages. She owns three manufacturing plants in China, and she is the most aggressive human machine I have ever met. After rigorous negotiations and discussions, she is a powerful and wealthy woman on all levels.I noticed that she took periods to oscillate (rebuild her energy) after stressful negotiations. She closed her eyes, relaxed her muscles and meditated. Later, she told me that she imagined the experience of skydiving, or pretended that she was the heroine in a popular American movie, or she was focused on her next business 'conquest' (her word), planning every detail.During her normal workday, every 2 hours, I noticed that she would stop at whatever she was doing and take fifteen minute stretches, similar to the breaks taken by tennis players staring at their tennis rackets between volleys. Precise, disciplined and focused. Wow!I quickly noticed the similarities while reading this book, demonstrated by this remarkable woman. Spiritually, she had a keen sense of awareness and purpose. She found many different ways to tap into her positive energy.Is this 21st Century "shock-corporate/jock" material or what? This is a spectacular book for managing our "inner stage under the most difficult circumstances, and to emerge from stressful periods stronger, healthier, and eager for the next challenge."[ADDITION TO REVIEW 12JAN06] Upon additional, admittedly amateur research, I believe this book is the beginning of a powerful movement about how people can manage energy and expand life. Please review the Abs Diet by David Zinczenko (sold by Amazon). Exercise your lifestyle with challenging "sprints," then learn to oscillate (relax).