Let's face it. As a leader you're most likely the catalyst in your respective organization.

You get the initiative rolling, the dream envisioned, and the communication flowing. You help the systems get developed, the revenues stream in, and the company be promoted.

The technical, or hard, skills of leadership demand a lot from you. But when the intersection of our heart and energy come together, what does that demand of your people and your teams?

<strong>In other words, are we a vortex for our organization, or are we a drain within it?</strong>

If you're a vortex, you are the type of leader that funnels energy and focuses it upward, moving everything around you along, and catapulting forward the goals, values, and mission of your company. People will naturally be lifted up by your example, and be sucked along with the focus you've generated because of the irresistible lure of what you're promoting.

In fact, many times you'll propel others to skills and achievements beyond where you are because you've given them a charge of vision that they spin off, becoming vortexes of their own.

Unlike a tornado, which leaves destruction in its wake, a vortex will increase the energy and intensity of their teams with a positive charge and direction that will carry the momentum of vision, even when those natural lulls in our leadership occur.

<strong>A vortex can be a very influential power within your company, but so can a drain.</strong>

If you're a drain, you suck the life out of your people and your organization. By just sitting there and creating a negative environment, you will drag others down, turn the focus inward and downward, and never move anything beyond your level.

The purpose of a drain is simple - to be a conduit for waste. Drains waste time, resources, and talent. A person that is a leadership "drain" takes everything in its reach and gives nothing in return.

Our energy can pull everything down, or propel everything forward. Drains are the path of least resistance. True leadership stays away from the easy path. Let's each determine to be a vortex in our organization.