The Power of Full Engagement Summary and Review
Imagine how effective you could be if you could apply absolute focus to the task in hand. “The power of full engagement”, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz dishes up a plethora of techniques to stimulate one’s ability to fully engage with the task at hand. In this “The power of full engagement” summary and review I will summarise the key points from the book and actionable steps that you can take today.
techniques to stimulate one’s ability to fully engage with the task at hand
Introduction
On a roll, in the flow, ….whatever you may call it, the concept and (hopefully!)positive outcome of total engagement is enticing. “The Power of Full Engagement”, taps into people’s enthusiasm for that ability and aims to dish up the magic sauce that enables mere mortals like ourselves to achieve that. Let’s dissect “The Power of Full Engagement”, in this book review and you can judge for yourself if the teachings are capable of bringing you closer to the holy grail of laser like focus.
I will structure this Power of full engagement book review as per the book chapters, going from the first chapter which introduces energy as our fundamental resource all the way to the last chapter where the teachings are applied at the company or organisation level. So, for you managerial types, you will have to read all the way to the end. But fear not, it is always good stuff in the Done Before Brekky reviews so it is inevitably a good use of your time. Don’t have too much time? Well that’s also fine as I have your back covered. Save this article to Pocket for future listening on your mobile phone
Save this article to Pocket for future listening on your mobile phone. Then on your commute enable Pocket’s inbuilt text to voice feature to have this article read to you. There, problem solved! Right, lets crack on.
I will also round up each chapter with actionable steps that you can take to put those lessons into practice.
Energy, Not Time, Is Our Most Precious Resource
The fundamental point in this chapter is that energy and not time is the key to high performance. Instead of slogging away like a marathon runner, we instead should cultivate the regiment of a sprinter. Short, high intensity, 
fully focused spurts are the way to go apparently. The time outside of these short focused efforts should be cultivate that ability. Jim & Tony’s new paradigm encompasses,
- Managing energy
- Seek out stress
- Manage workload as a series of sprints
- Recategorize downtime as productive time
- Develop purpose and rituals
- Fully engage
The items listed above are no doubt a different approach to the age old, of managing time, having consistent, long term efforts and considering down time as wasted time. Fear not for you guys in this camp for an adjust period has been factored in. In the power of full engagement, a change process is foreseen. This three step process goes through purpose, truth and action. Purpose relates to having a clear and unequivocal vision of where you want to go. Truth, face up to the reality of how you are currently spending your energy. Finally, action, where you close the gap of where you currently are and where you want to be.
The Pulse of High Performance: Balancing Stress and Recovery
As mentioned in the previous section, a core philosophy of “The Power of Full Engagement “, is not to work hard 24/7 but rather like a sprinter in short, focused bursts.
This chapter cites various examples of overworked, stressed individuals who paid little regard for recuperation. After these individuals adapted their behavior to encompass periods of downtime, whether that be a walk in the park, listening to music or even juggling. The end result was of course a complete swaparoo of their circumstances to something akin to happy ever after. OK, I jest a little, but for sure they observed some improvement in their previously dire circumstances.
Physical Energy: Fueling the Fire
This chapter boils down to eat well, sleep well and exercise. A lot of information is provided around these topics along with the experiences of companies who have initiated wellness programs. There are a multitude of factoids in here but I have summarized the key points for eating, drinking and sleeping in the actionable steps below.
Actionable steps include,
- Strategic eating! I knew that would get you attention but it does not mean tucking into that big steak will do wonders for your productivity. The advice here revolves around avoiding high glycaemic foods and drinking plenty of water.
- Understand we will hit a low point during the day. Apparently this is from 3pm to 4pm, the lowest phase of our ultradian and circadian rhythms.
- Eat five or six low calorie meals per day along with sixty four ounces of water. Seven to eight hours of sleep is needed for optimum performance.
- Interval training is more effective than steady state exercise, so again back to the sprinter vs. marathon runner point.
Emotional Energy: Transforming Threat into Challenge
It is difficult to operate at a high level without tapping into our positive emotions and this is what this chapter emphasizes. One must eschew negativity in the form of fear, anger and frustration in favour of enjoyment and excitement over new challenges.
Actionable steps include,
- Engaging in activities that trigger emotional renewal.
- Some real life examples from the book included gardening, dancing or even visiting a park
- For managers, exercising the empathy and encouragement emotional muscles is also recommended.
Mental Energy: Appropriate Focus and Realistic Optimism
According to Tony, nothing interferes more with the ability to focus on the task at hand than concentration. The root cause for this may be either physical or mental and he cites some remedial actions that can help. Realistic optimism means seeing the world as it is, which may not always be positive but nevertheless working towards a positive outcome.
Actionable steps include,
- Get sufficient sleep and physical exercise. Common sense in abundance here.
Spiritual Energy: He Who Has a Why to Live
Spiritual energy in this case need not relate to a divine power but rather to the supportive spiritual muscles – passionate, commitment, honesty and integrity.
Actionable steps include,
- To expand our spiritual capacity we need to subordinate our needs and look for something beyond our own self interest.
Defining Purpose: The Rules of Engagement
This chapter probably rings a bell with many people. It talks about how we manage to sleep walk our way through life without ever determining our purpose or passion. With neither of these the destination we are destined to arrive at never pops up at all on the radar. In “The Power of full engagement”, Jim & Tony indicate that there is no quick answer in determining our purpose but that it requires periods of quiet reflection. An altogether different approach to the rest of the gung ho actionable steps peppered throughout the rest of the book.
However in the absence of this stabilising purpose we can be easily buffeted by the slightest of prevailing negative winds. Purpose is also cited as a powerful source of energy and our vision provides the blueprint for how we should best invest that energy.
Actionable steps include,
- Periods of quiet reflection, meditation, prayer retreats etc.
- Three most important life lessons you have learned?
- Who do you respect and what are the three qualities of that person you would want to emulate?
- What one sentence would you want on your tombstone?
- Who are you when you are at your best?
- Determine your virtues and values. Each of these questions will help you unearth your rules of engagement –
Face the Truth: How Are You Managing Your Energy Now?
The title of this chapter pretty much sums up what is to covered here. It is time to face the music and make oneself the object of inquiry. With all of the detective skills that as aspiring Poirot can muster, you must conduct a thorough audit. Naturally we all can be a bit devious and can attempt to deceive ourselves in order to main some semblance of self esteem, at least according to the book.
It is necessary to face up to the truth and accept our limitations and in doing so free up energy. This, dear friends, is the second step after purpose in becoming fully engaged.
Actionable steps include,
- Audit yourself. Ask probing questions such as,
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how fully engaged are you in your work?
- How closely does your everyday behavior match your values and serve your mission? Where are the disconnects? To what degree do you establish clear priorities and sustain attention to tasks? How consistent are those priorities with what you say is most important to you? How much energy do you invest in yourself, and how much in others, and how comfortable are you with that balance? How do those closest to you feel about the balance you’ve struck
Taking Action: The Power of Positive Rituals
When it comes to people who have really mastered their art there is always some element of ritual or routine which underpins it. This was also raised in “The Power of Full Engagement”. One example that was cited was the tennis player, Evan Lendl. Tony stated he was not the most naturally gifted of players but dominated the sport for some time nevertheless. To accomplish this he had a rigorous fitness regime, practiced mental focus exercises and either fully engaged or strategically disengaged from his training.
Build rituals in small steps with one significant change at a time
This clearly did Evan no harm so what does it mean for ordinary folk like ourselves? Well, two things. First, the most important role of rituals is to insure an effective balance between energy expenditure and energy renewal in the service of full engagement. Second, studies confirms that specificity of timing and precision of behavior dramatically increase the likelihood of success. This gives some scientific gloss to the notion that routine and practice clearly are beneficial.
Actionable steps
- Build rituals in small steps with one significant change at a time.
- launch each day’s ritual-acquisition mission by revisiting our vision, clarifying not just what we intend to accomplish, but how we want to conduct ourselves along the way
- Hold yourself accountable at the end of each day
Summary of the Corporate Athlete Full-Engagement Training System
This section reviews many of the key aspects of “The Power of Full Engagement”, and serves them up for the reader to easily review. Here I list but some of the points, you can refer to the book for a much more elaborate summary.
For full engagement summary points
- Energy is the fundamental currency of high performance
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Optimal energy in the context of high performance
Full engagement principles
- Managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance.
- Full engagement requires drawing on four separate dimensions of energy: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual
- We must learn to balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal <
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Positive energy rituals are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.
Finally, in this chapter, Tony gives a few key points in how to maintain high performance for as long as possible. Or, as he puts it, “burn as brightly as possible for as long as possible”.
A couple of key items from those,
- Chronological age is fixed. Biological age can be modified with training.
- Full engagement requires periodic strategic recovery.
- The rhythmic movement between energy expenditure and energy recovery is called oscillation
- Sustained high performance is best served by assuming the mentality of a sprinter not a marathoner
- Most of us are undertrained physically and spiritually
- Energy capacities follow developmental lines.
- Each of the four dimensions follows its own developmental stages:
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High positive energy is the fuel for high performance.
Organizational Energy Dynamics
This is the final chapter of the book and this is where it the energy dynamics that one may find inside companies and organisations to the principles that he outlined for individuals. Just like individuals, “The Power of Full Engagement”, sees organisations as pools of untapped energy, ready to be released on achieving a common goal. All individuals in the company contain and contribute energy towards that with the leaders being those who can mobilize and focus those energies. They are the so called “stewards”, of organizational whose role it is to direct, channel, focus and invest the energy of the workforce in service of the company mission.
Powerful stuff, but I think we can all testify to the effectiveness of cohesive teams working in unison on a common purpose.
The Power of Full Engagement Summary & Price
I have no problem to recommend The Power of Full engagement after having done this review as it strikes me as having lots of fairly reasonable points in there and moreover for the bargain price of $6.76 from Amazon. If you found this article useful make sure to sure on your social network using the little buttons on the left. Cheers!
