When most people think about military leaders, their minds go straight to ridiculously strict, regimented, and intimidating TV and movie characters. Couple that with the fact that most people don’t have close ties to someone in the military, and it’s not surprising that many assume that life in the military is one big “Basic Training” shouting fest.

BerylHealth, a healthcare call center, had its start with three employees and the phone line in a backroom. Between 1985 and 2012, founder and CEO Paul Spiegelman grew the company to 300 employees. The company earned multiple Inc. 500 and Best Places to Work awards for its impressive growth trajectory and strong, positive culture that was built first on truly caring for employees.

Anese Cavanaugh gets calls from companies all the time, asking her help with creating communications plan, or improving employee feedback. But often, the heart of their problem is actually disengagement: employees are there, but they aren’t really showing up.

Our failure to be fully present in any interaction drains energy from workplaces, makes for inefficient use of time, and can lead to the failure of initiatives. In turn, increasing energy levels by working on focusing personal energy toward the tasks at hand can lead to positive results.