Part 1: The team you long for
|
Reader, Welcome to the first of a 7-part series on developing more agency in your team this year. (Or maybe 8 parts, since that’s how these things tend to go.) Agency is the ability to know what to do, why it matters, and how to take action as a team. This is more than a definition. It’s what Founders, CEOs, executives, and rising leaders long for, because a team with agency can:
…without you having to prod, remind, control, or constantly hold them accountable. What used to work. In simpler times, keeping the trains moving on time meant tightly controlled policies, procedures, and accountability structures. The Scientific Management approach (that still permeates organizations today) optimized outputs by making each job responsibility as efficient as possible -- like optimizing parts of a machine so the whole thing would run well. But you already know you can’t control all the variables anymore. And even if you could, it would be exhausting and miserable. There will always be a process you didn’t think of, an accountability gap you missed, or a new variable you couldn’t anticipate. It's a never-ending game of whack-a-mole. Yet most leaders still haven’t figured out how to release control without risking the goals they’re accountable for. And the complexity you face isn’t increasing linearly. It’s exponential, so you can expect these challenges to increase. In this series, we’re going to explore how to optimize results through agency instead of control. Agency is the catalyst. Before you try to develop agency in your team, it's important to recognize that agency is not the end goal. It’s the catalyst. Like the carrot (incentives) and the stick (consequences), agency drives results, but through clarity instead of external pressure. Clarity on what matters most. One study found that intrinsic motivation accounts for over 45% of the variance in work performance. Rewards and consequences don’t motivate people who are driven by purpose, interest, and internal satisfaction. In fact, those people are often demotivated when they can’t choose how they approach their work. The rest of the data is telling:
If nearly half of performance is driven by intrinsic motivation, then tapping into that requires engaging people at a deeper level. That’s where agency comes in. Why agency works. Agency does three critical things. First, it enables people to know what to do. This is clarity. And clarity matters deeply to a generation raised with unlimited access to information. Younger leaders are most comfortable when they can learn, understand, and gain clarity before taking action. When you’re vague, conceptual, heavy on jargon, or frequently shift directions, your team hesitates, not because they’re incapable but because they are not clear about what to do next. Second, agency enables people to know why it matters. This is clarity that remains, even when conditions and variables change. The why is always grounded in a clear picture of where you are going, what you are trying to achieve, and what success looks like. Without it, team members will often think about goals like a checklist, instead of a lens for making decisions. Then, when something unexpected happens, they no longer know what to do. Third, agency is knowing how to take action as a team. Each person must understand the value they bring and how to apply it in changing conditions. They must know when to move independently and when to collaborate. They must know why collaboration is essential, not optional. Our culture values individual contribution, independence, and autonomy. But what happens when a group of individuals all take action separately? You get conflict, duplicated effort, lost energy, and slow results, because people are going in different directions without even realizing it. Step 1: Clarity. How clear are you about what you and your team should focus on, and why? Can you see the picture in your mind? Or do you notice your team: Reverting to what feels comfortable. If there’s one thing I’ve learned on the entrepreneurial roller coaster these past few years, it’s this: Clarity is hard. It takes time. Discipline. Repetition. Because lots of things matter. And when everything matters, nothing matters. Your team can’t effectively help you reach your goals unless they’re clear about their next action... and the next. Leadership at every level. Many leaders are great at creating clarity and getting people moving in the same direction, but developing leadership at every level of an organization is a whole different game. Consider: What do leaders do that team members don’t? They:
And none of these actions require having direct reports or a certain title! What would it mean if your entire team grew in agency this year? Where would you be 12 months from now that isn’t possible today? What would you finally have time to focus on? Where will you spend your time? We are all busy, and there's no reason to expect that tomorrow, there will be less to do. So you have a choice. Will you spend your time building tighter policies, more processes, more incentives, more consequences? Or will you spend your time building clarity, agency, and leadership throughout your team? You likely don’t have the capacity to do both at a high level. There is always a cost to where we invest our energy. But I can assure you, your younger team members are hoping you'll choose the latter. It's what they long for. Many rising leaders don’t actually want to leave their organizations. They leave when they don’t see a path to grow, contribute, and make an impact. Remember, the team you long for isn’t a talent problem. It’s an agency problem. Up next: Your team can only move as fast as their clarity will take them. Enjoy, Sara Prefer to view the newsletter in our app? Scan the QR code to download it now. Like this content? Subscribe, read past posts, and share it here. Follow me on LinkedIn |