--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: information does not consist of energy…" description: "\"“information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing leadership on information theory disempower..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg" --- # information does not consist of energy, and leadership is… ![“information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing leadership on information theory disempowers leaders and is part of the bias toward data that was discussed earlier in this chapter. Impact, to the contrary, is about emotional process.” quote by Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg) > ““information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing leadership on information theory disempowers leaders and is part of the bias toward data that was discussed earlier in this chapter. Impact, to the contrary, is about emotional process.”” [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Leadership relies on emotional energy and impact, not merely informational data; focusing solely on data can diminish a leader's effectiveness. **In simple terms:** Leadership needs emotional impact, not just data. Key Takeaway Prioritize emotional connection over raw data. Themes leadership emotion impact data bias Mood determined reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - team meetings - public speaking - crisis management - strategic planning Key Concepts energy information theory emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance data with emotional insight? - What impact does emotional energy have on team performance? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on data can ignore practical realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Data](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) [Making An Impact](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-an-impact/) ## Related quotes > [“In leadership, energy isn't fluff. It's strategy. Shift the vibe, shift the outcome”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janna-cachola/in-leadership-energy-isn-t-fluff-it-s-strategy-shift-the-vibe-shift/) [Janna Cachola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janna-cachola/) > [The biggest thing is bringing energy and leadership on both ends of the floor. The player I want to be, and know I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shai-gilgeous-alexander/the-biggest-thing-is-bringing-energy-and-leadership-on-both-ends-of-2/) [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shai-gilgeous-alexander/) > [The biggest thing is bringing energy and leadership on both ends of the floor. The player I want to be, and know I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shai-gilgeous-alexander/the-biggest-thing-is-bringing-energy-and-leadership-on-both-ends-of/) [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shai-gilgeous-alexander/) > [For centuries, America has led the world on a long march toward freedom and democracy. Let's reclaim our clean energy leadership and lead the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-garamendi/for-centuries-america-has-led-the-world-on-a-long-march-toward/) [John Garamendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-garamendi/) > [Actually, guest star roles are really hard. Since you have to walk into a show where the cast has been working together for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-badler/actually-guest-star-roles-are-really-hard-since-you-have-to-walk-into/) [Jane Badler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-badler/) > [What is important is the character that I play. Making an impact is far more important than the length of the role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neha-dhupia/what-is-important-is-the-character-that-i-play-making-an-impact-is/) [Neha Dhupia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neha-dhupia/) > [I like tackling problems that I can see making an impact on real people and real businesses immediately.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-priebatsch/i-like-tackling-problems-that-i-can-see-making-an-impact-on-real/) [Seth Priebatsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-priebatsch/) > [Everybody we meet has an influence on us and an impact - good or bad. And I think that's why we have to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-harwell/everybody-we-meet-has-an-influence-on-us-and-an-impact-good-or-bad/) [Ernie Harwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-harwell/) > [At a relatively early age, I began to believe that building a business was perhaps the greatest opportunity for making an impact, because it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-holmes/at-a-relatively-early-age-i-began-to-believe-that-building-a-business/) [Elizabeth Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-holmes/) > [In every school, community center, city hall, and state capitol, there are women who are making their voices heard and standing up for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-klobuchar/in-every-school-community-center-city-hall-and-state-capitol-there/) [Amy Klobuchar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-klobuchar/) > [I want to change the pop world one sequin at a time. Artists tend to take themselves way too seriously and don't enjoy the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/i-want-to-change-the-pop-world-one-sequin-at-a-time-artists-tend-to/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [“Not Taking NO Personally Here’s my take on the fear of rejection: It’s a sign that you’re placing a higher value on your fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-fenton/not-taking-no-personally-here-s-my-take-on-the-fear-of-rejection-it-s/) [Richard Fenton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-fenton/) > [I'm driven by making an impact on the individuals I interact with and leveraging my success to give back to the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-sweet/i-m-driven-by-making-an-impact-on-the-individuals-i-interact-with-and/) [Julie Sweet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-sweet/) > [Giving, making an impact on people is something I definitely got from my mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilson/giving-making-an-impact-on-people-is-something-i-definitely-got-from/) [Gabriella Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilson/) > [With music I get to feel real ownership with what I do. I write it, I perform it and even if it is crap,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cho/with-music-i-get-to-feel-real-ownership-with-what-i-do-i-write-it-i/) [John Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cho/) ## More by Edwin H Friedman > [“the major relational problem for our species is not getting together; protoplasm loves to join. The problem is preserving self in a close relationship.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/the-major-relational-problem-for-our-species-is-not-getting-together/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“the key to survival is the ability of the “host” to recognize and limit the invasiveness of its viral or malignant components.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/the-key-to-survival-is-the-ability-of-the-host-to-recognize-and-limit/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [The function of a leader within any institution: to provide that regulation through his or her non-anxious, self-defined presence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/the-function-of-a-leader-within-any-institution-to-provide-that/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“while the modern, human animal is capable of deep thought and, like its mammalian forebears, can nurture and play, it also is capable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/while-the-modern-human-animal-is-capable-of-deep-thought-and-like-its/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“no one has ever gone from slavery to freedom with the slaveholders cheering them on,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/no-one-has-ever-gone-from-slavery-to-freedom-with-the-slaveholders/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [Communication does not depend on syntax, or eloquence, or rhetoric, or articulation but on the emotional context in which the message is being heard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/communication-does-not-depend-on-syntax-or-eloquence-or-rhetoric-or/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“The three criteria of reptilian functioning that leaders of any family or institution can always rely on to judge madness (of others or their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/the-three-criteria-of-reptilian-functioning-that-leaders-of-any/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“any community or family discussion, those who are the first to introduce concern for empathy feel powerless, and are trying to use the togetherness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/any-community-or-family-discussion-those-who-are-the-first-to/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“A “new world” view of the brain suggests instead that communication is itself an emotional phenomenon that depends on three interrelational rather than “mental”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/a-new-world-view-of-the-brain-suggests-instead-that-communication-is/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [A major criterion for judging the anxiety level of any society is the loss of its capacity to be playful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/a-major-criterion-for-judging-the-anxiety-level-of-any-society-is-the/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [Attitudes are the real figures of speech.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/attitudes-are-the-real-figures-of-speech/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“the “old world” view separates data from emotional process and focuses leaders on the “talking heads” of others, while the “new world” view focuses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/the-old-world-view-separates-data-from-emotional-process-and-focuses/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [Leadership can be thought of as a capacity to define oneself to others in a way that clarifies and expands a vision of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/leadership-can-be-thought-of-as-a-capacity-to-define-oneself-to/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“when one individual in a marriage stands up to another, while the other will not like it at first, he or she generally will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/when-one-individual-in-a-marriage-stands-up-to-another-while-the/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) > [“There are always three factors involved in survival, no matter how toxic the environment. One is the physical reality; the second is dumb luck;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/there-are-always-three-factors-involved-in-survival-no-matter-how/) [Edwin H Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) [Explore all 19 Edwin H Friedman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/) ## More Data quotes > [Information is money, but data is squat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-llama-butler/information-is-money-but-data-is-squat/) Angela Llama-Butler > [“ data analytics consulting Perceptive Analtyics is a data analytic company and a trusted advisor to its clients across domains. Click to know more”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastianmax/data-analytics-consulting-perceptive-analtyics-is-a-data-analytic/) SebastianMax > [The information nation took their clues from all the sound bite gluttons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rem/the-information-nation-took-their-clues-from-all-the-sound-bite/) [REM](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rem/) > [Sometimes I am a collector of data, and only a collector, and am likely to be gross and miserly, piling up notes, pleased with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fort/sometimes-i-am-a-collector-of-data-and-only-a-collector-and-am-likely/) [Charles Fort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fort/) > [But actually theory is very practical. Gravity is a theory, for example. It allows you to predict that if you step off a cliff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clayton-christensen/but-actually-theory-is-very-practical-gravity-is-a-theory-for-example/) [Clayton Christensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clayton-christensen/) > [Statistics are like miniskirts: They give you good ideas but hide the important things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ebbe-skovdahl/statistics-are-like-miniskirts-they-give-you-good-ideas-but-hide-the/) Ebbe Skovdahl > [Unlike return, however, risk is no more quantifiable at the end of an investment that it was at its beginning. Risk simply cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-klarman/unlike-return-however-risk-is-no-more-quantifiable-at-the-end-of-an/) [Seth Klarman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-klarman/) > [Finding patterns is easy in any kind of data-rich environment; that's what mediocre gamblers do. The key is in determining whether the patterns represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-silver/finding-patterns-is-easy-in-any-kind-of-data-rich-environment-that-s/) [Nate Silver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-silver/) > [ \[Brazil\] went to the UN and said, "We need new standards for this." We need to take a look at what they're calling "data… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/brazil-went-to-the-un-and-said-we-need-new-standards-for-this-we-need/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [We're living in a technological world. You cannot tell me we can't do a better job getting that information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/we-re-living-in-a-technological-world-you-cannot-tell-me-we-can-t-do/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [Web users ultimately want to get at data quickly and easily. They don't care as much about attractive sites and pretty design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-berners-lee/web-users-ultimately-want-to-get-at-data-quickly-and-easily-they-don/) [Tim Berners-Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-berners-lee/) > [You cannot have 300-some million Americans - and really, right, the global citizenry be at risk of having their phone conversations intercepted with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/you-cannot-have-300-some-million-americans-and-really-right-the/) [Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/) > [An important finding is that by determining the genome sequences of an entire family, one can identify many DNA sequencing errors and thus greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/an-important-finding-is-that-by-determining-the-genome-sequences-of/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) > [While it's wonderful that investors have access to all the data now available to them, it has become a full-time job to sift through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-bartiromo/while-it-s-wonderful-that-investors-have-access-to-all-the-data-now/) [Maria Bartiromo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-bartiromo/) > [“The amount of stored information grows four times faster than the world economy, while the processing power of computers grows nine times faster. Little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-mayer-sch-nberger/the-amount-of-stored-information-grows-four-times-faster-than-the/) [Viktor Mayer-Schönberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-mayer-sch-nberger/) [Browse all 3,134 Data quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/data/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing leadership on information theory disempowers leaders and is part of the bias toward data that was discussed earlier in this chapter. Impact, to the contrary, is about emotional process.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edwin H Friedman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/information-does-not-consist-of-energy-and-leadership-is-all-about/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Data" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/information-does-not-consist-of-energy-and-leadership-is-all-about/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19f/edwin-h-friedman-2-28965_data_information-does-not-consist-of-energy-a_2552814.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“information does not consist of energy, and leadership is all about energy, about making an impact. Basing…” — Edwin H Friedman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edwin H Friedman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-h-friedman-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“information does not consist of energy,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/information-does-not-consist-of-energy-and-leadership-is-all-about/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-h-friedman-2/information-does-not-consist-of-energy-and-leadership-is-all-about/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```