Does your team really have agency?

Reader,

Building Agency in Your Team.

The word agency has been cropping up a lot lately. I love the word.

Agency is the catalyst that turns regular teams into entrepreneurial teams: capable of thinking, innovating, acting, and making real progress.

It’s the ability to know what to do, why it matters, and take action together.

Let’s unpack this so you can find new ways to build agency in yourself and your team.

Knowing what to do.

If this were easy, every company would be aligned and moving in the same direction all the time. But it’s not easy.

Leaders often think knowing what to do is as simple as setting a goal and talking about it constantly. It’s far more complex than that.

It’s like a rowing team in a sweep boat. Each rower must constantly think and respond to a web of interrelated actions:

• Making each stroke precise and consistent.
• Listening to the coxswain’s instruction.
• Staying aware of the endpoint you’re racing toward.
• Syncing timing and effort with others.
• Managing energy to go the distance.

It’s not enough for you to know what to do. You’re not trying to get there alone, or even get a group of people to similar destinations whenever they feel ready.

Doing it together.

Like the rowing team, your job is to get everyone to the same destination at the same time.

Except you’re not in a boat—you’re working remotely, across different roles, time zones, and tasks.

And whether this happens depends on one crucial thing: whether people actually know what to do, why it matters, and how to take action together.

No wonder leadership takes time to learn. No wonder even great leaders still struggle.

The missing piece.

Every person on your team needs to know what to do so clearly they can say it out loud. If they can’t explain it, they don’t fully know it yet.

But many leaders are so busy talking about what to do and why it matters that they never leave room for their teams to practice owning it themselves.

What if, instead of saying it for them, you invited your team to:

• Open your meetings with the organization's vision and why it matters.
• Prepare the month-end report of the priorities, why they matter, and the progress made.
• Train a new hire by explaining how the daily work connects to the bigger purpose.

Half the time, team members don’t even know what others are doing, let alone how their work contributes to shared goals.

If that’s true for your team, it's time to get serious about making sure every member of your team:

• Sees the same picture when they look at the vision.
• Knows why that vision matters to customers and stakeholders.
• Understands exactly how their work contributes to it.
• Knows how and when they need the skills and strengths of others.

When people know this, your team can run toward the same vision, together, in rhythm—without your constant push.

That’s what agency looks like in action.

Try asking your team:

• What’s the one priority that matters most right now?
• What does it look like to achieve it?
• How will we know when we’re there?
• Why does it matter to our customers?
• How are each of us contributing?
• How would you explain this clearly to someone new?

Then, don’t rush in with the answers. Give your rising leaders and team members at every level the space to wrestle with it, articulate it, and own it.

That’s how agency grows and leadership multiplies.

And when it does, work becomes something more than motion. It becomes one of the greatest platforms we have to discover potential and make a positive impact on others.

Enjoy!

Sara

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"I have tools to handle situations that might have baffled me. There is so much that I find myself having the opportunity to put into practice immediately at work." Will Dorman ​ IT'S HERE!! Access the Free Leadership Hub! Download our app for quick access to: Daily leadership insights that shift your perspective and help you lead from a higher vantage point. Weekly thought-provoking content to help you lead well every week of the year. Quarterly community calls to challenge yourself and learn alongside peers. Plus, exclusive access to workshops and trainings. ​

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