Are you ready to unlock the secret to powerful, effective leadership? In this inspiring solo episode of the Marli Williams Podcast, Marli shares a sneak peek into her brand new keynote—introducing the concept of Energy Intelligence. Discover the latest strategies to protect, generate, and transfer your energy as a leader, speaker, or coach. Learn about the “Lead Fully Charged” framework and get a taste of how intentional energy management can prevent burnout and boost your impact. Curious about how your presence shapes every room you enter? If you’re interested in authentic leadership, self-awareness, and the habits of high-performing teams, this episode will have you looking at your calendar—and your energy—in a whole new light!
Marli Williams is an international keynote speaker, master facilitator, and joy instigator who has worked with organizations such as Nike, United Way, Doordash, along with many colleges and schools across the United States. She first fell in love with transformational leadership as a camp counselor when she was 19 years old. After getting two degrees and 15 years of leadership training, Marli decided to give herself permission to be the “Professional Camp Counselor” she knew she was born to be. Now she helps incredible people and organizations stop waiting for permission and start taking bold action to be the leaders and changemakers they’ve always wanted to be through the power of play and cultivating joy everyday. She loves helping people go from stuck to STOKED and actually created her own deck of inspirational messages called StokeQuotes™ which was then followed by The Connect Deck™ to inspire more meaningful conversations. Her ultimate mission in the world is to help others say YES to themselves and their big crazy dreams (while having fun doing it!) To learn more about Marli’s work go to www.marliwilliams.com and follow her on Instagram @marliwilliams
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Transcripts
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Marli Williams [:
Foreign what's happening? I am super stoked to welcome you to the Marli Williams Podcast where we will explore authentic leadership, transformational facilitation and how to create epic experiences for your audiences every single time. I am your host, Marli Williams, bringing you thought provoking insights, expert interviews and actionable strategies to unlock your potential as a leader, facilitator and speaker. Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth, transformation and impact. Let's lead together. The Marli Williams Podcast begins now. Let's dive in.
Marli Williams [:
Well, hey everybody, what is happening? Welcome back to the Marli Williams Podcast where this week I am coming to you with a solo episode sharing with you what I have been working on for my new keynote. So one of the things that I talk a lot about is this idea of energy and how important your energy is as a leader, a speaker, a coach, right? And your energy is really the thing that people feel from you the moment that you walk into a room. So my question to open up this conversation, this podcast episode today, is when you walk into a room, a meeting, a conference, an experience, a networking event, whether you are leading that or attending it, what is the energy that you are bringing into this space? And do you know what it is? Is it wonder? Is it curiosity? Is it humor, playfulness? Is it contagious enthusiasm? Is it a quiet presence? Right? What is the thing that you bring into that space? And so much of this idea, this concept that I am unpacking and uncovering is it's so much of it starts with self awareness, right? Checking in with yourself. And really it's about being intentional, knowing your energy, owning your energy isn't about being the loudest person in the room. It's about being the most intentional. Do I understand how my energy is impacting and influencing those that I serve, those that I lead? And so this idea of energy intelligence is the term and the concept is really looking at this as the new EQ for human centered leadership. So maybe you're familiar with the term eq, which stands for emotional intelligence. We have IQ, which is your intellectual intelligence.
Marli Williams [:
But this idea of energy intelligence being the new eq and energy intelligence is really the ability to manage, protect, generate and transfer your energy with intention, with purpose, with mindfulness, with a deeper reverence and sense of awareness of really. It begins with like it's this idea of inside out leadership. How am I showing up for myself so that I can serve from the overflow, from the abundance versus serving from this place of feeling already depleted, under resourced and then getting burnt out, stressed out overwhelmed and resentful. So this approach of this kind of inside out leadership is what I am going to walk you through today. This is my brand new framework. This is the behind the scenes of how this all comes together. And again, as I've been reflecting on the keynotes that I've given, energy has always been the heart of it, the essence of it. But I haven't really unpacked it in this way before and I am feeling super lit up.
Marli Williams [:
And again, my hope with this podcast is that it moves you, it inspires you, it serves you to look at this maybe from a new perspective. So I'm going to walk you through the lead fully charged framework, right? This idea of what does it feel like to lead fully charged, fully resourced, fully capable and able to serve with purpose on purpose. So the first step on the journey is really understanding what fuels you as a leader. Your fuel is the thing that's really looking at how do you generate your own energy? And one of the best ways to do this is to do an energy audit. If you were to look at a typical day in the life of your schedule on a typical quote unquote work day, really looking at, you know, maybe the meetings or the lunches or the workout or whatever it is that you do, the sending of the emails, the posting of the things, right? If you were to look at your schedule on Google Calendar, on iCal, whatever you use to manage your schedule, and you look at each of those activities, would you put a plus, minus or neutral next to it? Meaning is that something that gives you energy? That would be a plus, maybe like working out really gives you energy. And a minus would be something that depletes your energy, like sending all these emails or what are the things that kind of tend to drain your energy? And then neutral is like, I do it and maybe it doesn't really give me energy, but the neutral ones are a playground to play in. Maybe a neutral is like, well, getting ready for work or getting dressed or taking a shower and you can turn some of your neutrals into a positive. Maybe you listen to a podcast or you play your favorite songs in the morning when you're getting ready.
Marli Williams [:
So it's looking at your schedule not from just managing your time, but shifting to managing your energy. What are the things that give me energy? What are the things that drain my energy? What might be neutral that I could shift into something that would give me more energy. Eating food might feel neutral, but it's like, how do you make that a nourishing, giving experience, right? So that is the step number one is really looking at what fuels you as a leader and how to really take full responsibility for your own energy. And again, starting with this place of having this sense of self awareness. I know the things that fuel me, I know the things that drain me. And if you look at your calendar and every day is a negative four at the end of it, if you were to add up all those numbers, it's all about starting from being honest with ourselves to ourselves and saying, great, this is my starting ground. What's one thing that I can do every day? Maybe it's two minutes of breathing or taking a mindful walk around the block to add more pluses into your daily life. All right, okay, that's number one.
Marli Williams [:
Moving on our journey is focus. Right? So as a leader, what are the things that you choose to focus on? Are you focused on things that you are in control over or the things that you're not in control over? Your focus is where does your energy and attention go? Where do you invest your valuable energy? And are we focused on the things that actually matter that actually move the needle forward? Or again, are we getting caught up in things that really drain and deplete our energy that we have no control over? This is about a reclamation or reclaiming of your energy. So when you notice like on a day to day basis, and this is again just cultivating a sense of mindfulness, where does my energy go? And so often as leaders, there's so many things coming at us that our energy can get diluted. And I don't know if you're a gardener out there, but I learned how to essentially garden a tomato plant. I don't know. Is garden an action verb? I don't know. You know what I mean? So we're growing a tomato plant and tomato plants can grow like crazy.
Marli Williams [:
You have to pick off what's called the suckers that are in between the plant. Otherwise there's not enough energy and nutrients to go to ripening the fruit. So I think that this is such a great metaphor of like, what are the suckers that are sucking your energy? And can you remove those so that there's more energy to focus on what actually matters? Right. So where are you investing your time and your energy? Because where our attention goes, energy flows. And if we're focused on the wrong things, or we're focused on the things that we're not in control over, or we're trying to do all of the things, we are going to feel overwhelmed and energetically depleted. So this is the piece of sometimes less is more, right? How can I do less better? So that is step number two on our lead fully charged framework. Number three is how are you filtering your energy? And filtering your energy is really about how are you protecting your energy? Your energy is sacred, and your energy is the greatest gift that you can give the people that you serve. And a lot of people maybe want or need a lot of your energy.
Marli Williams [:
So the idea of the filtering your energy is how are you protecting your energy? Meaning, what do you let in, what do you keep out? And there's a practice that people use called zipping up your energy. Maybe you're an empath, and when you're in a sea of people, you can feel everybody's energy, you take it on, you take on the weight of other people. And I really like this phrase, how can you care for people but not carry it for people? You maybe care about the people that you serve, that you work with. You don't have to carry the burden of that either. So this idea of zipping up your energy and actually, like, as a zipper, imagine like you're putting on, like a full body suit where you have, like, your energy field that you are protecting you. Your energy is so valuable and it can be so impacted and influenced by everything that's coming at us and around us. Maybe it's the news, the dings, the rings, other people's energy. And if we don't protect it, that's when we oftentimes feel very overwhelmed and very depleted and very drained.
Marli Williams [:
Right. So filtering your energy is how are you protecting your energy? What are your personal practices? Whether it's maybe zipping up your energy look as though you are have a zipper, zipping up a bodysuit and having like this, like, okay, I am safe, I belong here. I am protected, and I can be mindful of what I let in and what I keep out that comes to maybe feedback, social media, comments, all the things, again, that can be coming at us. And, you know, if you're an entrepreneur or a speaker, I always say visibility equals vulnerability. So the more you put yourself out there, the more visible you are, the more vulnerable you are to other people's influence and input. And again, we're seeing ads, we're seeing all of this information pop up at us. Filtering your energy is also like, you're looking at your algorithm, Do I like what I'm seeing on my Instagram feed or TikTok? And you can curate that. You can curate your environment.
Marli Williams [:
You can filter out the bad and keep the good again, really looking at, like, what are the things that are draining my energy and depleting my energy and how do I protect my energy? So that is our filter. How do we filter our energy, protect our energy? Number four, one of my favorites is all about fun, right? And allowing ourselves to have fun and be in our joy and play is looking at how do we amplify our energy, how do we take our energy to the next level, how do we give ourselves the juice and the boost and the like filling up our cup with the things that we love, the things that bring you joy, the things that allow you to be in your essence and your. And you know, when we do things just for fun, we aren't doing it to get an outcome. But, you know, it's like thinking about those times where you actually took the weekend off or you actually went on that vacation and you. We come back so much more fully resourced and fully refreshed. And so often when we're busy or stressed out or overwhelmed, fun is the first thing to go because we make up all these stories of, I don't have time for that. Or play is just for kids, you know, and we're told as kids, you can play when all the work is done. And my friends, all of the work will never be done, which means we stop playing and we stop being in our authenticity.
Marli Williams [:
And our authenticity is actually like the highest frequency vibration you could be, you know? So, again, one of the exercises I would invite you to do is to create your own personal playlist of what are the things that you love to do just for fun, the things that bring you joy, the things that light you up, the things that give you energy because you're fun. Having fun on purpose is again, looking at this as an essential part of being a leader. Not just, oh, I'll do that when I have time, or when this project is done. It's really like making this a priority. Okay, that's number four is fun, and number five is your frequency. And your frequency is really looking at how are you transferring your energy to other people. And again, doing this with intention and purpose. Because our energy is contagious.
Marli Williams [:
And it goes either way. I always say we can make someone's day or we can break someone's day. And it is up to us. So what is the impact and influence that I want to have on the people around me when I am showing up for myself, myself when I am fully resourced? The energy that I transfer onto the people that I work with, onto the people that I serve, is very different than when I am drained, exhausted and depleted. So, again, coming back to this question is what shows up when you show up? And what is the impact and influence you have on the people around you? And do you know what it is? Because I think that that is the ripple effect of that in a team, in a company and a culture. An organization is so potent, right? You can walk into a room, a restaurant, a conference, a workplace, an office, and you get a vibe, a feeling of, like, the energy of that space. Does it feel warm, welcoming, inviting? Does it feel innovative, creative, open, exciting? What shows up when you show up? And do you know what it is? How do you transfer your energy to the people around you, Right? And again, this is just about doing it with more intention and more purpose. So that is the framework looking at, again, what fuels us? Where do we put our focus? How do we filter our energy? How do we amplify our energy by having more fun? And what is the frequency of our energy? And that, like, the whole purpose of this is to find flow in our life, in our work, to have a sense of alignment.
Marli Williams [:
And, you know, so the idea is, the goal is flow and fulfillment, like I said, is this alignment and feeling kind of at peace with who you are and the work that you do. And fulfillment is really about having this deep sense of meaning and purpose in your life and in your work. And that, my friends, is the lead fully charged framework, really using these principles of energy intelligence, of how do I manage, protect, generate and transfer my energy so that I can have more flow and fulfillment in every area of my life. So that is the new keynote in a nutshell. That's like the condensed version of it, if you will. And I would love for you to take time to go back, to listen, to pause, to reflect, to journal, to do some of the practices that. And exercises that I shared with you here. Because again, information doesn't change our lives.
Marli Williams [:
It's the application of that information that does. And I am so lit up about this work and so passionate about sharing this with other teams, companies, organizations, conferences, because I think that our energy is the greatest gift that we can give the people that we serve, the people around us. And it has the greatest ripple effect on company culture, understanding that your energy matters. It is contagious, and it is the fuel that runs everything. So if you are out there, you're listening to this, and you're like, oh, my gosh, my company needs this. My team needs this. We need to reboot or refresh, recharge or reset. I would be honored to support you and serve you as a keynote speaker, a leadership trainer.
Marli Williams [:
We can come in, do some team building. I would love to be on stages more so if you know anybody who is looking for speakers for their upcoming events and conferences, I would be honored.
Marli Williams [:
For you to share this, this work and this idea of energy, intelligence and leading fully charged. And I am so, so, so grateful to each and every one of you out there for the incredible work that you do in the world. And it is my hope, my wish for you is that you can give yourself the gift of showing up for yourself so that you can show up for others with purpose and power and passion and more intention. So as always, I love to hear your golden nuggets, what landed for you, what resonated for you and thank you again for tuning in and for listening. If you like this, love this, rate this the podcast. We want to reach more people. If you know someone in your life who really needs to hear this message, feel free to share it with them. And I am again truly so honored and so grateful to get to be on this journey with you.
Marli Williams [:
And until next time, take care. Thank you for joining us on another.
Marli Williams [:
Inspiring episode of the Marli Williams Podcast.
Marli Williams [:
We hope you're leaving here with renewed.
Marli Williams [:
Energy and valuable insights to fuel your leadership coaching and speaking endeavors. I'd love to invite you to subscribe, rate and review this podcast to help us reach more aspiring leaders and speakers like you. We have more exciting episodes and remarkable guests lined up, so make sure to tune in next time. Until then, keep leading with purpose, coaching with heart, and speaking with conviction. This is Marli Williams signing off. See you next week.