As the COP26 U.N. Climate Conference wraps up today, you’ll likely encounter plenty of number-filled recaps of the progress—or lack of progress—made by world leaders over the past 2 weeks. There will undoubtedly be summations of the billions of dollars in monetary commitments, summations of the metric tons of CO2 reduction commitments, and perhaps even summations of the amount of fossil fuels required to fuel the conference and the tens of thousands of people who converged upon Glasgow to participate.

But as big as those numbers might sound, there will continue to be people representing every climate-related angle there is asking, "So what? What do these numbers even mean?"

And whether or not you care to dive into COP26 numbers, this is a good time to ask how much your stakeholders actually care about the numbers you're relying upon to measure progress, motivate your teams, and create urgency.

The headline: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 1.5: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬’ 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 (by Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press)

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

💡 How many qualitative metrics should you use to measure "meaningful" growth?

💡 Are you over-using or mis-using numbers to protect a narrative?

💡 How much time do you spend helping stakeholders understand their direct connection to "the numbers?"

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“Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them.” - Colin Powell

Just because a soldier is no longer serving does not mean his or her problems go away, of course. So, the question for you on this Veterans Day is, “What can I do today to best support those who served our country?”

The headline: 𝐏𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐬𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐡-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐠𝐬 (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

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

💡 How often do you focus on gratitude before you focus on growth?

💡 What can you do TODAY to better protect yourself, your team, and your family from stress?

💡 How can you help service-oriented leaders unlock and sustain purposeful, productive, and rewarding careers?

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While countless energy industry professionals genuinely appreciate and enjoy opportunities to give back to their communities through corporate volunteer initiatives, the reality is that a material number of folks picking up roadside trash, assembling care packages, or planting flowers at senior centers are "voluntold" to participate. And in most cases, a little "forced encouragement" once in awhile isn't a bad thing at all.

But what happens when the day-to-day activities needed to run a business begin to rely on "voluntoldism" to get things over the goal line? What happens when clear ownership and responsibility are replaced by vague requests and unwritten rules? How should leaders respond when employees become focused more on non-core (yet highly visible) tasks than the projects they're actually getting paid to do?

Well, inspired by an independent PA DEP program that ties permit review prioritization to what some might oxymoronically claim are "voluntary requirements," this episode of The Energy Detox will help you look for signs that your organization is using volunteers to produce duct-taped solutions instead of incentivizing leaders to take decisive action...or, to steal a quote from the Marcellus Shale Coalition's response to the DEP program, this episode will help make sure you and your team aren't "building a permanent detour rather than fixing the roadway."

The headline: 𝐏𝐀 𝐃𝐄𝐏 “𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲” 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 (Marcellus Drilling News)

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

💡 How might an over-reliance on volunteerism be limiting your organization's growth prospects?

💡 In what ways might a self-serving leader protect the interests of an organization better than a "selfless" leader?

💡 How are existing incentives failing to sustain interest and engagement among your employees?

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Pipeline-related news continues to generate plenty of noise and protests and political posturing, with yesterday's headlines regarding Enbridge Line 5 being no exception. But such news coverage also provides a great excuse to ask whether your unwitting attempts to keep communication pipelines full in conversations and meetings and presentations are making you a less effective leader and diminishing your executive presence.

The headline: 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐖𝐇 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐬 (New York Post)

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

💡 How might a build-up of silence-induced pressure boost your effectiveness?

💡 What damage are you causing by trying to fill the communications pipeline at all costs?

💡 What are all the ways you can efficiently transport your core message to your downstream stakeholders?

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While coverage of the COP26 U.N. Climate Conference continues have a rather apocalyptic tone, the constant talk of timelines, deadlines, doomsdays, extinctions, climate countdowns, etc. does at least provide a good opportunity to examine your own clock management, as we'll do during today's live episode of The Energy Detox.

The headline: 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔.𝐍. 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (by Elizabeth Kolbert of The New Yorker)

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

💡 What precious opportunities for growth and development are you leaving on the field at the end of the game?

💡 How often do you prematurely employ a "prevent defense" for yourself or your organization?

💡 How quickly can you hop back into action when your headset's off and you're soaked in Gatorade?

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Thanks to soaring natural gas prices around the world, the cost nitrogen-based fertilizers is skyrocketing, which will obviously lead to continued impacts on the expense and availability of certain foods. And while that's bad news for a good chunk of the human population, it's a good excuse for The Energy Detox to help you explore the products you're using (or not using) to yield sustainable results for yourself and your stakeholders.

The headline: 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐬 -𝐂𝐅 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (by Rod Nickel of Reuters)

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

💡 What are 𝐚𝐥𝐥 of the figurative fertilizers helping you and your team grow?

💡 What's the biggest threat to consistently strong yields?

💡 Is your application of synthetic "leadership development" products sustainable?

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With news that a midwestern natural gas pipeline closure next month could put the flow of Anheuser-Busch products in jeopardy just as holiday parties get into full swing, this live episode of The Energy Detox will help you examine how well your company's approach to engagement and team-building—including parties with open bars, of course—reflects the culture you think/hope you're brewing.

The headline: 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐓𝐋 𝐏𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 (by Jim Willis of Marcellus Drilling News)

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

💡 In what ways can you extend your employee engagement growing season?

💡 How might letting your guard down actually protect your reputation?

💡 Is your current bag of team-building tricks unsustainable...if not antithetical to your organization's DEI intentions?

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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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