Chief energy officers: A new model for HR leadership

Pressure, power, and the people function

Today’s CHROs are facing a perfect storm. Geopolitical unrest, economic volatility, post-pandemic fatigue, and the rapid acceleration of AI are converging in ways that test not just systems but people. Human resources, previously a back-office function in charge of culture and compliance, has now become the shock absorber for organizational upheaval. CHROs are guiding teams through layoffs, hypergrowth, cultural reinvention, and the moral maze of GenAI integration—all while trying to protect their employees’ mental well-being on shrinking budgets; transform HR into a strategic engine of the business; and defend inclusive values in an era where even the concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion is being politicized and discouraged.

Challenges for CHROs don’t come in waves; they come in tides. And, unlike they could in the past, leaders can’t wait for things to stabilize. As one CHRO aptly put it, “We’re no longer waiting for the storm to pass. We’re learning how to lead from the eye of it.”

So, the question is: How do you sustain leadership when everything feels like too much and the pace of work shows no signs of slowing?

In an effort to confront that very question, Tony Schwartz, founder of The Energy Project, and Brad Warga, co-head of the Human Resources Officers Practice at Heidrick & Struggles, convened a series of intimate dinners with leading CHROs across New York City and San Francisco. The conversations offered space to reflect upon the escalating demands of their role, and to consider what it might take to lead with resilience in the face of unrelenting change.

Following are some of our insights. For more, join us for a webinar on Thursday, October 2, 2025, at 11:00am EDT: “The Chief Energy Officer: How CHRO Well Being Fuels Lasting Impact.” Register now.

Rethinking performance: The energy framework

Currently, performance is treated as a function of time. As the pressure builds, the inbox swells, and the meetings stack up, the instinctive response is always the same: put in more hours, push a little harder, outrun the chaos. Time becomes the default currency of success. 

But this approach only works until it doesn’t. Eventually, time runs out, exhaustion sets in, and leaders—no matter how capable—find themselves depleted, disconnected, and running on fumes. Angela Crossman, chief people officer at Dragos Inc., captures it perfectly,: “As leaders, sometimes we think we have to push through at all costs. But that mindset isn’t just unsustainable, it also sends the wrong signal to our teams about what high performance really looks like.”

That’s where The Energy Project’s framework offers a shift in perspective. Schwartz and his team’s provocation is deceptively simple: time is finite, but energy is renewable. If we want to perform at a high level over the long haul, we need to stop treating energy as an afterthought and start managing it as a primary resource. 

To this point, Schwartz breaks energy into four dimensions: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.

• Physical energy is our foundation, what fuels stamina, movement, and rest. 
• Mental energy is about focus–the capacity to give something our full attention.
• Emotional energy affects how we relate to others: our ability to stay calm, empathetic, and optimistic under stress. 
• Spiritual energy is tied to meaning and purpose: the feeling that what we’re doing matters.

When these four types of energy are aligned and replenished, leaders operate in what Schwartz calls the Performance Zone: high energy paired with positive emotion. It’s where people are most focused, creative, and present. When the goal is restoration, refueling the system, leaders need to move into Renewal Zone, or low positive energy. 

What’s alarming is that rather than moving rhythmically between the Performance and Renewal zones, CHROs today mostly find themselves operating from the Survival Zone: high energy, yes, but driven by negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and frustration. The Survival Zone is where the body’s stress response kicks in, adrenaline surges, the prefrontal cortex progressively shuts down, reactivity and impulsivity arise, and overall health starts to unravel. Remain there too long, and you’ll land in the Burnout Zone, a state marked by physical depletion and a fading sense of purpose.

While each zone serves a purpose, the key is knowing how and when to move between them. Schwartz illustrates this through the extraordinary story of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger, who, when faced with catastrophic engine failure mid-flight, landed a plane safely on the Hudson River. In the first critical seconds, Sully surged into the survival zone, powered by urgency and instinct. It mobilized his attention. But it was his ability to swiftly regulate that response and return to the Performance Zone that made the impossible possible. The Survival Zone gave him speed, but the Performance Zone gave him control. HAD he remained locked in panic or tunnel vision, the outcome might have been catastrophic.

The contrast between tennis legends John McEnroe and Rafael Nadal exemplifies the cost of lingering too long in the Survival Zone. McEnroe, known for his relentless intensity and high-adrenaline style of play, often operated in a constant state of emotional overdrive, winning his last Grand Slam when he was just 25 years old.  Nadal, on the other hand, built his game around emotional regulation and won a record 22 Grand Slam titles the last of them at the age of 36. McEnroe burned out fast; Nadal endured. For today’s executives, this isn’t just a sports anecdote; it’s a wake-up call. The ability to manage your internal state isn’t just about surviving tough moments. It’s what allows you to lead for the long run. 

In everyday leadership, what traps us in survival mode isn’t always a dramatic crisis, it’s the quiet accumulation of unexamined patterns. Schwartz calls these internal defenders: unconscious behaviors or emotional defenses that were once protective, but now quietly drain energy. Think of the overachiever who never pauses, fearing they’ll lose their edge, or the executive who avoids vulnerability to stay in control. These patterns often pass for discipline, but they’re powered by fear. Unless leaders recognize and disarm these barriers, they’ll keep burning energy just to hold themselves together, leaving little for the deeper leadership CHROs are now being called to deliver.

From concept to practice: How leaders begin

The most powerful aspect of Schwartz’s framework is its practicality. Energy is not some abstract trait. It’s something we can learn to manage, if we approach it with discipline.

Physical energy

This work starts with the body. Leaders must build physical renewal into their routines, not as a luxury, but as a necessity. Schwartz recommends structuring the day around 90-minute work sprints followed by short recovery breaks, mirroring the body’s natural ultradian rhythms of alertness and fatigue. 

Movement is equally essential: even a brief walk between meetings can restore stamina and sharpen focus. Similarly, in moments of acute stress, a 60-second breathing practice can reset the nervous system, lower cortisol, and bring a leader back to presence. These workplace habits, when done consistently, help sustain physical energy throughout the day; however, they’re only as strong as the foundation beneath them. Quality sleep, proper hydration, and balanced nutrition remain the bedrock of sustained performance. 

Emotional energy

Emotional energy focuses on how leaders feel, and how they show up for others. It’s about creating conditions for connection through empathy, optimism, and emotional agility. As Jenny Dearborn, chief people strategy officer at BTS, puts it, “If we want resilient teams, we have to build a culture that honors recovery as much as results.” That shift begins with leaders making subtle yet deliberate choices that model emotional presence. Starting a meeting with a quick check-in, such as “One word for how you’re feeling right now,” or sharing a moment of honest vulnerability, can create a centering pause amid the chaos, allowing for greater trust and more grounded dialogue in high-stakes moments. Connecting to what you’re feeling—for better and for worse—isn’t a distraction from performance; it’s the foundation that allows it to endure.

Mental energy

Mental energy is about protecting focus. Leaders often confuse productivity with busyness—filling calendars with back-to-back meetings, juggling Slack threads, and multitasking through emails—when real performance comes from depth, not speed. That’s why Schwartz urges leaders to carve out daily windows of deep, uninterrupted work. Just 60 to 90 minutes without pings or context-switching can dramatically reduce decision fatigue and elevate the quality of thought.

Spiritual energy

Finally, the most often overlooked source of energy is spiritual – the energy we derive from a sense that what we do really matters, and serves something larger than ourselves. It emerges when leaders act in alignment with a deeper purpose. That doesn’t require a sweeping mission statement. It can begin with simply turning attention inward and reflecting at the start of the day on who you want to be, and how you want to show up as a leader.  Anchoring action in purpose builds endurance not just for the day, but for the long arc of leadership. 

Putting together a practice

When practiced deliberately and in concert, these small interventions can become a force multiplier. They interrupt the cycle of survival-mode leadership and create the internal margin needed to respond with clarity and care. 

Bryan Power, head of people at Nextdoor, offers living proof of the framework’s impact, reflecting, “The Energy Project has not only shaped how I lead, but also how I live. Tony’s insights have transformed my daily routines, grounded my leadership, and given me the tools to sustain performance without burning out. Every executive should treat energy management not as a luxury or nice-to-have, but as a core leadership skill.”

The broader shift: Redefining leadership through energy

While the concept of energy management is particularly crucial for HR executives, its implications stretch far beyond any single function. In an environment defined by constant disruption and rising complexity, technical expertise is no longer a sufficient marker of effective leadership. What truly distinguishes great leaders now is their ability to regulate themselves, sustain their teams, and remain calm at the center of the storms swirling around them. 

It’s not a niche idea, it’s a new imperative. Organizations don’t just need leaders who can do more; they need leaders who can be more: more present, more human, more energized in how they lead and live. As Amber Grewal, chief talent officer at Boston Consulting Group, explained, “We can no longer afford to run organizations or leaders on depletion. Real leadership today is regenerative. It starts with inner alignment, not just outward performance. When we fuel the whole human body, mind, heart, and purpose, we activate a deeper intelligence that allows us to lead with strength and stillness, even in the eye of the storm.” 

While the HR function may be uniquely positioned to model this shift, the mindset of a chief energy officer shouldn’t stop there. It should become a shared capacity, not just in leaders, but across entire organizations.

Join Brad Warga and Tony Schwarts for a webinar on Thursday, October 2, 2025, at 11:00am EDT: “The Chief Energy Officer: How CHRO Well Being Fuels Lasting Impact.” Register now.

About the authors

Brad Warga (bwarga@heidrick.com) is co-leader of the global Human Resources Offices Practice at Heidrick & Struggles; he is based in the San Francisco office.

Tony Schwartz (tony@theenergyproject.com) is the Founder and CEO of the Energy Project, a consulting firm that helps individuals and organizations tap the full range of their resources in order to fuel full engagement and sustainable high performance.

Mahnoor Elahi (melahi@heidrick.com) is an intern in Heidrick & Struggles’ San Francisco office.